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Interesting characters and a great cast, but the script really left them with nowhere to go. Bridget Fonda was lovely and I will check out her work in other films (last one of hers I saw was Doc Hollywood in 1991). Will also keep a lookout for Skeet Ulrich who brought a nice blend of charm and mystique to the role of the central character. Christopher Walken is competent as usual, but this is not the sort of part I enjoy seeing him play. Tom Arnold did a good job as the obsessed religious fanatic. I found the labeling of this movie as a comedy strange, but it is hard to say how else it should be categorized. It is definitely a subtle and wry brand of humor. I don't think I laughed aloud even once. One thought provoking thing about the movie is that it shows that people can do good things without being wholly good, and bad things without being wholly bad. That may sound obvious, but too often movie characters are one-dimensional. For example if someone is exploitive (especially in a comedy), they also turn out to be evil to the core. A better script with some added time for plot development would have made this a much more satisfying picture.

While TOUCH may not be up to the level of GET SHORTY, OUT OF SIGHT, or JACKIE BROWN, it's not a bad little movie. Certainly it's an odd book from Leonard, as he admitted in his introduction, but it worked for me, and given Paul Schraeder's history with religious themed films(TAXI DRIVER, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST), it seemed natural he would direct. This is not a great movie, because Schraeder doesn't go as deep as Leonard did into his characters, and some of the humor doesn't translate. But most of it does, and this avoids the heavy-handedness of most movies about angels/healers/devils. Part of that is due to Skeet Ulrich, who should avoid hearing Johnny Depp comparisons after this movie, because he shows a personality all of his own. And Bridget Fonda pairs up nicely with him. This movie even gets a good performance out of Tom Arnold. All in all, underrated and deserves checking out.

I don't know Paul Schrader's work or reputation, nor that Elmore guy who wrote the book, just was lookin' for a decent movie to pass the time. This wasn't it, though there were moments of promise including arty credits, intensely colored rooms and a few good "throw away" lines (not to mention that Bridget Fonda did get naked and looked pretty good in clothes anyway). But the story just didn't hold together, the actors were just "acting" someone needed to direct, edit, pace, something! Had to be written by a perceptive ex-Catholic with a few axes to grind, but even that angle didn't work. Doomed to the dust bin of moviedom, I'm afraid.

Don't be fooled by the subject matter - an ex-monk, who can heal the sick by touching them, but suffers stigmata each time and gets caught up in a whirl of religious fanatics, big-business evangelists and ratings-hungry media - this is a sweet and touching romantic comedy!

Leave it to Paul Schrader to find a way to do some heavy soul-searching without getting heavy-handed, yet always remaining quirky as we know him from his dramas. A wonderful supporting cast (Christopher Walken, Tom Arnold, Janeane Garofalo, Lolita Davidovich and Gina Gershon) adds color and texture to the story without detracting from the quiet chemistry going on between Skeet Ulrich and Bridget Fonda. When Ulrich says without grandeur that he believes in God and miracles, you don't even think twice about it - you believe every word he says at face value. A rare performance.

I did not start watching this movie as an Elmor Leonard novelization come to film. In fact I wasn't aware that it was a Leonard novel until I just accessed this page. This said, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I originally checked it out of the video store because of Christopher Walken's involvement, plus I had seen an interview with Bridget Fonda on the making of the movie, and found the concept to be intriguing. I found the characters, acting and direction on target for the subject matter, the way that recent journalistic direction and everyday cynicism would effect the life of a person with real God-given talents. The experiences that Juvenal goes through are realistic, as are his reactions. Definitely grist for reflection, and I'm an atheist. All in all, don't go into this movie expecting it to be something it's not, and you won't be