“The Dad Quest,” titled “Los Mejor del Mundo” (“The Best in the World”) in Spanish, is a Mexican remake of an Argentinian made-for-Netflix melodrama. That was titled “Hoy se arregla el mundo” (“Today We Fix the World”) and was sentimental and sweet and perfectly watchable, if a tad on the long side.

The two films’ shared story is about a distracted, loner reality TV producer who learns that the kid he’s been supporting for ten years, a Dad who’s “barely” there for the boy, isn’t his son. The dad finds out he’s not the father from the mother just before she dies in an accident.

So there’s nothing for it but for not-his-real-father to help the lad track down the real father via Mom’s phone contacts and text messages, the more suggestive the better.

The big difference between the films is the Mexican remake is played as more of a straight-up comedy, with a scatttering of big names in the cast. Director Salvador Espinosa may not have the most inviting resume (“You’ve Got This” was his). But he at least knows that comedy is supposed to be quick.

Argentine hunk Michel Brown, just seen in “With You in the Future,” is Gallo, producer of reality TV’s “Los Mejor del Mundo,” a shameless reality TV/studio audience chat show that features scandalous behavior, hypnotists and the like.

He’s on decent terms with his ex, Alicia (Fernanda Castillo) even though he’s married to his career, distracted by a big pitch he’s making to TV moguls in Miami. He can’t be bothered to help their son Benito (Martino Leonardi) with homework or personal life issues, or to indulge the kid’s desire for pizza when Gallo prefers sushi and nothing but.

The shocking news that he isn’t Beni’s father comes just as Alicia is fleeing a restaurant where they were meeting. She is promptly hit and killed by a car.

Gallo waits until after the funeral, at least, to break the news to the kid. He warns the boy that “This will hurt,” which it plainly does as he blurts it out.

The boy’s “That didn’t hurt. You’ve never been a father to me (in Spanish, or dubbed into English)” hurts more.

That guilts Gallo into agreeing to help when the child asks for help finding “my real Dad.”

Some of the candidates are funnier — Arath de la Torre plays an artist who used Alicia as a model — than others.

Alicia’s no-nonsense friend Diana (Mayra Hermosillo), who tutors Beni, joins the quest and gives it a nice comic kick. Brown makes a nice reactor to the assorted dad-candidates they meet.

If you’ve seen “Today We Fix the World” you know what works here, the sentimental stuff about a man learning the void he’s got in his life might be filled by taking more interest in the boy he’s raised as his son.

I think the remake hits the comic highlights harder. But if you’ve seen “Fix the World,” there’s no reason to bother with “Dad Quest.” If you haven’t seen the original film, “Quest” is at least a decently acted, occasionally amusing and somewhat quick “summary” of the superior film it’s based on.

Rating: TV-14, suggestive subject matter, mild profanity

Cast: Michel Brown, Martino Leonardi, Mayra Hermosillo, Fernanda Castillo,
Arath de la Torre and Erik Rubín as himself.

Credits: Directed by Salvador Espinosa, scripted by Tato Alexander, based on the script to “Today We Fix the World” by Mariano Vera. A Netflix release.

Running time: 1:24