The Adventures of Felix

In this engaging, understated comedy, it is the journey and not the destination that matters.

An odyssey of self-discovery of much charm, humor and admirable subtlety.

It's a distinctly French feeling -- an air of caprice and light expectations -- and a perfect prologue to a delightful film.

Sectioned neatly into chapters with titles like "Mon petit frere" and "Ma mere," the film is perhaps a little too rigid, even by the conventions of road movies.

It would all be too obviously feel-good if Ducastel and Martineau weren't also tuned in to the liberating drift of the open highway and a sharp native humor that adds needed flesh and blood to their walking metaphors.

Perhaps simply discovering a film so dedicated to a different perspective is adventure enough.

Makes its points gently; the picture presents its socially conscious messages as if they were written in the sand, on the beaches where Felix would probably prefer to frolic.