Driss is handsome, young, black and brash. He's the sort of bully who stomps into a room and impatiently storms to the front of the line because he doesn't have the patience to wait his turn, and he has the build and bravado to back that up.

He lives in a housing project with his long-suffering mom, is a little too fond of his marijuana and is fine with the idea of living off the state's handouts.

Which is why he's gone through the motions of applying for a job. He has no idea what working for Philippe will entail. Driss doesn't sweat details, or see the necessity for good manners.

Philippe (Francois Cluzet) may be rich, but he's nobody to Driss (Omar Sy). And he's a quadriplegic.

"That's a bummer" is the first French phrase Driss can think of. "Don't get up" is the second.

"The Intouchables" (opening today at the Tower) is an amusing, touching and intensely likable French comedy about these mismatched men – the pitiless punk and the immobile, lonely older man who has no need for sympathy. He knows how bad his condition is.

"These street guys have no pity," he is warned. "That's what I want," he answers.

Driss is to be his assistant, his guardian angel. He listens in case his high-maintenance employer calls out in the night, helps bathe him and wash his hair. He makes mistakes – accidentally burning Philippe, who can't feel a thing. And turns up his nose and gripes every step of the way.

They bicker about the silliest things. Music – Francois loves Berlioz, Driss insists "That's the name of my housing project." Driss is into American funk of the '70s (Earth, Wind and Fire, etc.). A mystery to Philippe.

As they get to know each other we start to see layers to both men – Philippe's penchant for dictating florid romantic letters to pen pals he fears meeting in person, Driss' troubled history and the younger brother who may follow in his footsteps.

Each man, in his way, is an outcast – untouchable. And each finds a way, reluctantly, to touch the other's life.

Filmmakers Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano tell this story in a flashback. They set a semi serious tone and send that up at every turn.

Yes, this is a serious connection, a relationship that will eventually benefit both men. But it's also cute – Driss badgering, betting and bullying the helpless Philippe into making more of the limited life he leads, Philippe reveling in the younger, healthier man's ignorance and appetites.

Sy is a force of nature as Driss, the irresistible force who meets Cluzet's exquisitely contained, passive and resigned immovable object.

At times, the cute elements of this true story (stay through the credits) threaten to overwhelm it. Driss is unimpressed with his boss's art collection and takes up painting, cracks up at his first trip to the opera and misses or ignores every social signal sent his way. But he also menaces the neighbor who blocks Philippe's driveway and pushes his boss –literally – into a better life.

These characters and the actors playing them make "The Intouchables," in French with English subtitles, that rare French import that aims no higher than adorable, and hits its target every time.

THE INTOUCHABLES

three 1/2 stars

Cast: Omar Sy, Francois Cluzet, Anne Le Ny

Directors: Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano

112 minutes

R (adult situations, language and themes)

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