Touchy Feely

"Due to some unforeseen circumstances I will not be seeing clients for the time being."

I was a huge admirer of Lynn Shelton's film, Your Sister's Sister, and I even included it on my list of the best movies of 2011 so I was eagerly anticipating what she would do next. I loved the way she captured those characters in such an authentic way and I was onboard for her mumblecore experimentation once again. Knowing that Rosemarie DeWitt was going to be back for the lead role was one of the main reasons I included Touchy Feely in my most anticipated movies of the year list. It didn't hurt either that Ellen Page was going to play a supporting role since I was a huge fan of her work in Hard Candy and Juno. Everything about Touchy Feely had my expectations high rocketed to the sky, but then 2012 came and poor word of mouth lowered my expectations to such a degree that I never ended up seeing it until now. It was a major letdown and it made Lynn's previous film, Laggies, seem like a masterpiece next to this. This is a dramedy that feels completely uneven and the plot doesn't seem to go anywhere. I didn't like any of the characters here and their motivations were hard to understand at times. The film was a mess and the pacing was so slow that this 90 minute film felt like it was three hours long. For a film trying to explore the interrelationships between these characters there was nothing to be said or discovered. Even the actors seemed to be lost and not fully understanding what their characters motivations really were.

Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt), a successful message therapist, and her boyfriend Jesse (Scoot McNairy) are enjoying a lovely dinner at her brother Paul's (Josh Pais) home. Paul, emotionally distant and a bit depressed, lives with his daughter Jenny (Ellen Page) who has sacrificed her personal dreams to assist her father at his dental practice, which isn't exactly flourishing. Abby on the other hand is sought after for her great hands and seems to be going through a good moment in her life. She recommends his brother visit her Reiki instructor, Bronwyn (Allison Janney), who has done amazing things for her. Things take an unexpected turn in the family dynamics however when Abby suddenly develops a strange aversion towards skin which affects her work life. After Paul helps one of his patients recover from a terrible tooth pain, his dental practice begins to flourish due to the positive word of mouth his "healing hands" are receiving. While his relationship with his daughter seems to be getting stronger, Abbie's new aversion to skin affects her relationship with Jesse.

Despite the pretty original premise the film fails to explore Abby's problem. It's just a technique used to shake the interpersonal relationship in the family, but there is nothing that Lynn is trying to explore with her new found aversion. I really didn't understand why her character didn't simply explain to Jesse what she was going through because I'm sure he would've understood. He seemed like a pretty comprehensive type of guy. The introduction of Ron Livingston's character only feels like a filler and doesn't do anything to build the story. Ellen Page delivers a solid performance once again, but her character is trapped inside her emotional wall which doesn't allow her to fully blossom. Pais and DeWitt are the true stars of the film and their performances are the highlight of this forgettable film. Pais especially captures the eccentricities of his character in a rather natural way. I found the New Age mysticism in the film a bit too preachy and the indie quirkiness a bit too familiar. The tone of the film just dragged it down for me and I had a hard time relating to the characters or caring for any of them.

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I wanted to love this movie, it feels exactly like the type of movie in which that would happen. It started off so strongly and I was convinced that it would be one of my favorite films of the year. And then it just kind of died. The actors were all great and it is hard for me not to love anything Allison Janney is involved with. I just can't quite put my finger on what happened here.

Rosemarie DeWitt is a masseuse who is suddenly turned off by skin and physical contact and this creates a barrier with her job as well as her boyfriend. Josh Pais is her brother, a dentist who borders on being seemingly autistic and really has no joy or connection with anyone in the world, including his daughter (Ellen Page) who feels trapped working with her father at his office. Pais goes to see Allison Janney (a masseuse working with DeWitt) and is inspired to have connections of his own, but we never really see it come to fruition in any meaningful way that makes any sense. Which is how I felt about most of the situations in the film.

The parts with the father coming to Allison Janney for the first time and the great interaction and natural acting of the family all getting together for that first dinner were perfect. But then everything just kind of flattens out and people get worse and try various things to get better and some of it works and some is sort of unresolved and we never quite go beyond that.

I was quite surprised to find that this film was under 90 minutes because when it was nearly over, I found myself wondering just when it was going to end because it felt so long. There are voice-over and music montages where we see what the various characters are going through that just feel like they are twice as long as they should be. And those are the types of scenes I typically love so I really wish they had landed in this film. I think if I had cared more about the characters and they weren't just odd caricatures as the film went on, it would have maybe had more impact. The acting was all really great though and I loved the cast. They did well with what felt like half-baked characters and certainly elevated the film in that regard.

Things resolve themselves for the characters without any real feeling of why but I didn't depart with any real personal resolution from the audience standpoint.

Lynn Shelton's sophomore film Your Sister's Sister was a terrific little independent gem, showcasing relationships involving siblings and the complexities that surround quiet but notable flings we may neglect to mention to our friends. With a talented cast of three (Rosemarie DeWitt, Emily Blunt, and the wonderful Mark Duplass) it was a favorable experience to say the least. Shelton returns a year later with Touchy Feely which, to say the least, is a disappointing effort after batting a triple in 2012.

Your Sister's Sister worked because it was predicated off of human interest and realism in its events and dialog. Shelton asserted herself in human dialog, and immersed herself in the breathtaking beauty of Seattle's woodsy environment, making the film easy-on-the-eyes and very effective. Here, she makes Touchy Feely exist in what appears to be a fantasy realm, where real-life situations occupy a plot-point of science-fiction that's not only a bit offputting but difficult to adjust to. When the film introduces these plot-points, it only becomes that much harder to stay in-tuned with it, which is an issue seeing as that's the film's central plot.

Rosemarie DeWitt is Abby, a skilled masseuse who, all of a sudden, becomes frightened by the touch/texture of human flesh. This is a major issue because it renders her job impossible. Her brother Paul (Josh Pais) works as a dentist, with his directionless daughter Jenny (Ellen Page). When Jenny impulsively states that Paul has a "healing touch" when it comes to his dental work, the fib becomes true as Paul's work begins to heal many of his customers and their dental issues.

So, while Abby's job begins to crumble before her eyes due to her newfound aversion to human skin, Paul's dentistry practices begin to flourish and the possibilities become endless on his part. We, as the audience, are simply asked to observe this happening and this is precisely the issue; the film is void of connection and moments where true sympathy could've been evoked. We learn nothing about these characters except some of their situations are sad, some make us envious, but in the end, all of them are pretty trite and forgettable.

Touchy Feely's issue comes from two things; one, it feels more gridlocked to a story, where Your Sister's Sister was breezy and flowed in the wind, thanks to improvisational dialog. The other is that it tries to humanize something inhuman, which are relationships. It tries to make them the point of focus in the film and forgets we need to see the characters involved in the relationship to make them work.

At the end of the film - which runs a rather short eighty-three minutes - I thought about Lynn Shelton and how Your Sister's Sister struck me with so much surprise and how little excitement this effort packed. I simply console and toy with the idea that she is young, smart, and clearly passionate about not only her home-state of Seattle but film as an artistic medium. I say what I do after watching a mediocre Woody Allen movie; "they'll make more."

Starring: Rosemarie DeWitt, John Pais, Ellen Page, Scoot McNairy, Allison Janney, and Ron Livingston. Directed by: Lynn Shelton.

First, I am very picky about movies. I dislike most modern films because they lack solid acting, a thoughtful plot, and meaningful pacing, and instead opt for a fast-paced romp to keep the viewer entertained for 90 minutes. This film is quite different. The pace was not rushed, the characters were developed, and the acting was superb. I've now watched this film multiple times and pick up new things from each viewing. It is a very thoughtful film about who we think we are, and how fixated we are on how we think life ought to be, and I feel like anyone who takes some time to ponder about this film will have a lot to think about and enjoy reflecting on.

...For a useless little effort of a movie.

If the writers and producers create a film with one completly strange and mysterious plot device and then proceed to offer no explanation of it whatsoever, I write them off immediately.

Such is the case with this movie. Absolutely no effort is put into explaining the dentist's strange healing powers.

This is artistically lazy and uncreative. It's supposed to render the film with a more important human element and deeper meaning. But that's an artistic ploy- like the old, cheesy sci fi films that featured an impossibly weird monster, but never explained how in the world the monster came into being. Or even why said monster is now living in the middle of NYC.

Lazy. Like my review. Ignore both.