Touch

I really wanted to like this as I'm a westerner married to a Vietnamese in Vietnam with children. But I'm afraid I was disappointed. It starts out nice enough, original even, and I warmed to the lead actress. But as it went on, it got weird, icky weird and very cringey. I fast forwarded quite a bit. Could have been way way better than it was.

I understand the negative views, but only to an extent. This is one of those scripts that in the right hands (Jacques Audiard or Lynne Ramsay come to mind) and with a larger budget and name actors, would earn critical acclaim. The acting is serviceable and it looks like it was shot 30fps on a camcorder or early digital, but the story/writing/characterization is all there. Love an unconventional friendship narrative that brings two very different people together, without feeling unnatural and contrived. This is a solid movie with a unique, original, and touching story.

Anyways I saw this on Netflix and was reminded how much I liked it years ago. Appreciate it for its very unique strengths. I hope it gets it's day in the sun now that it's steaming.

Porter Duong plays a manic pixie dream girl named Tam without the manic. We know her back story but we don't know how she came up with her technique. And I'm not talking about manicures (but we don't learn much about that either.) She just happens to be a great manicurist after getting her certification!

The theme of the movie is one that needs to be explored in film. We human beings need touch, but in our family lives and in our relationship, we can be deprived of such touch. And one needs to understand non-sexual touch is healthy and therapeutic.

So where did Tam learn this? And can she be less creepy about teaching his lesson to John Ruby's Brendan. In the hands of a better director, we could have gotten more "Bliss," or perhaps an optimistic version of "Last Tango in Paris." But this script is lacking in that impulse to grasp, to cuddle, to hold.

Still, it's a good effort that just feels like a romantic drama written in the male perspective, lacking in the female.

I enjoyed the consistency of the theme and ton, but when the main character explained how her mom died, it seemed outlandish and cliche. Although in my own life catastrophe often hits on special days or when I get new things, so I could relate, but even so... still too cliche. Just make it his fault.

Also the stare the male lead gave was disturbing, awkward, and goofy. Most of the dialogue was okay though.

The other thing is that everything seems to happen in a bubble. It's like the girl went from age 5 to 30 and somehow skipped all the years in-between. I can't image that's how it is for blue collar workers. The film paints them as having no personality for holding conversation and only capable of "touch". Sure, they like to work with their hands, but then must have SOME other interests.

This was a great surprise, a very unconventional film, about loneliness and connecting. It's about an encounter that gives a brief fulfilment to two people and changes their life for the better not for the best. Lovely acting, and top directing. There is yet another asian girl gripped with sadness, one can think. But here this is well balanced with funny trivial conversations that gives us an insight of the rather positive outlook on life of the Vietnamese people. Nevertheless this is a movie where there is little talk while lots of emotions are on display. A lot can go wrong in a film without monologues, but here the title is the key. I particularly loved the soundtrack, the music electrified and bind the actions together and gave this suburban tale an epic edge.