User reviews

Elmore Leonard novels tend to deal with sleazy characters operating at the fringes of society. "Touch" is a strange book in that the sleaze bags are presented in a different light. They're not the obvious con men, but they are people that are trying to take advantage of a situation that is perceived as a money producing scheme.

Paul Schrader has adapted and directed, but the essence of the book is somehow elusive by what is presented to us. Yes, we realize that Bill Hill is into making a fast buck if he can sell Juvenal as the miracle worker with supernatural powers. In fact, this theme has been done more successfully in other films.

What the director accomplishes are good performances from his cast. At times the movie feels flat and without a clear direction as where it wants to go; we don't care too much about Juvenal after he loses his 'touch' and he becomes a mere mortal.

Skeet Ulrich is excellent as Juvenal; this actor is always a welcome sight in any movie he is in. Christopher Walken turns a controlled performance as Bill Hill, the man in search of a good con that will do anything to get it done. Bridget Fonda is also low key as Lynn, the skeptical woman who sees good in Juvenal and ends up falling for him. Also very effective is Tom Arnold, the man that wants to take the church into the right path and will stop at nothing to protect his own views.

"Touch" sticks Ulrich at the center as a young man with stigmata and maybe something more...healing power, the second coming, whatever. Around him are sundry characters ranging from mildly peculiar to very peculiar who want to use his questionable power to suit their own agendas. This unfortunate flick appears to be telling a story but fizzles in the end. A very unsatisfying, forgettable watch and a waste of a good cast. In short, a flop.

A comedy that tries a little too hard to be offbeat. Ulrich is Juvenile, an oblivious ex-Franciscan monk who has the power of stigmata. He can heal those he touches.

Walken is a religious profiteer who attempts to make a few bucks of Juvenile by elisting Fonda's help. The tongue-in-cheek satire does not mix well its use of slapstick, and most of the jokes end up flopping around on the floor for a few moments too long.

No one seems to be having much fun in their roles, except for Tom Arnold, who's having too much fun as the annoying christian extremist trying to bring people to the old ways of worship. His energetic idiocy succeeds all too well in annoying.

Occasionally Elmore Leonard writes about something other than the underworld. Here his wonderful dialogue and amusing characters are centered around, not a bank robber or ex-con, but a young man who receives miraculous stigmata. The tone is stirical and the comedy is quite dark; definitely worth a look. After Get Shorty Hollywood seemed to finally get how to translate Leonard to the screen, and Touch certainly belongs in the company of Get Shorty, Jackie Brown, and Out of Sight. The cast is perfect in this one, with Skeet Ulrich and Bridget Fonda the best they've been so far, plus Christopher Walken in full glory, and Tom Arnold (yes, That Tom Arnold) just dead on as a religious zealot. This one didn't get much of a theatrical run so go find it at the video store.

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.

I liked this movie a lot, apparently putting me at odds with quite a few of the reviewers. I am not sure what they expected, which was the puzzling part of reading their reviews.

This movie covers a lot of ground which is maybe what throws people off? Some obvious highlights -

* It's a love story * It puts fanatical christians in a bad light (which they likely deserve,) but then it also seems to forgive them a bit * It shows something I think is true - even if real miracles do/will occur, many will doubt them * It makes a clear distinction between church and faith - clearly you can have faith in God (or god if you prefer) but not the church * It showcases Tom Arnold really well; an actor I feel people underrate * It questions the concept of sex as a sin - people obviously feel the need to transfer their own hangups onto other people

Walken is good, as usual. Not his best, but good. I was impressed with Skeet. He's good looking, charismatic and portrays the gentle spirit I think works for this role. Surprised I don't see him in more movies.

The girl was OK. I know her name, and want to say I have seen her in more dominate roles. She felt a bit passive or something though. Not a big deal, but I felt she could have contributed a bit more somehow.

It's not profound or anything, but it implies the asking of a lot of good questions, with perhaps some implied answers.

Just to put a good word in, an Elmore based movie I enjoyed more was Get Shorty...I give that one higher marks. And Jackie Brown is amazing. So watch all 3 of these if you are a fan, IMO :)

This was a total waste of my time. Not only did the movie lack a clear message, but the choppy nature left you guessing what the story was about. The acting wasn't convincing and the special effects were decidely poor. It's no wonder I never heard of this movie before I saw it on TV.

Unlike any other Paul Schrader movie you have ever seen, meaning that this is NOT a dark and depressing doom story, but an uplifting, witty and mellow one for a change...

The good: a bunch of brilliant actors of whom Bridget Fonda and Christopher Walken steal the show, with several funny cameo's by LL Cool J and director Paul Mazursky.

The story is about a supposed healer who can cure people. Christopher Walken wants to put the healer on tv while Bridget Fonda's bedroom eyes are looking for romance with this charismatic healer. Will love blossom? Will the healer actually be able to heal people on tv and make Christopher Walken rich?

What an odd, yet gentle and mellow picture. Looses steam midway through, but it is undeniably curious and fun to watch for those who who are fans of these actors. Back to the nineties!

Juvenal (Skeet Ulrich) is one of the staff at a rehab center. August Murray (Tom Arnold) is a religious zealot convicted for misdemeanor assault. Bill Hill (Christopher Walken) sends in alcoholic Lynn Faulkner (Bridget Fonda). She's actually undercover for his investigation of Juvenal's religious stigmata miracles. Kathy Worthington (Janeane Garofalo) is a newspaper reporter. Everybody is trying to ascertain the truth and exploit it.

This Paul Schrader film is adapted from an Elmore Leonard book. It's a meandering story with lackluster characters. Honestly, Tom Arnold probably ruins this movie for me before it starts. I can't take him seriously and it's not silly enough to be funny. Schrader's storytelling doesn't help. The other actors are perfectly fine. There is some potential with the basic material but this is not good.

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.

Considering all the talent in the cast, the director, and the writer, this movie is a waste of time. I suspect Paul Schrader agreed to direct in order to finance the movie of 1997 he really cared about, Affliction. Elmore Leonard wrote the original story but Schrader, clearly going through the motions, wrote the screenplay and directed.

There is none of the grit or passion of his other works like Blue Collar, Light Sleeper, AutoFocus, or even Cat People. The premise of the movie - a twentysomething pretty boy who may or may not have the healing powers of Jesus, is stale. The extremely talented cast just looks bewildered and stiff. I never thought I'd see a dull performance by Christopher Walken, but here it is. The best thing about his performance is his (brief) reunion with his Dead Zone co-star, Anthony Zerbe.

Tom Arnold still thinks he's in True Lies or Nine Months but fares a little better as the leader of a questionable right wing religious movement. Actually the best performance in the film probably comes from Skeet Ulrich, hot property after playing the psychopath in Wes Craven's Scream, as the aforementioned pretty boy Jesus. You can almost hear the conversations between Schrader and studio heads while making the movie..."This is getting boring. Paul, can you call some of your buddies and get them into throwaway parts?" So enter Paul Mazursky, musician John Doe, Janeane Garofalo...

At least it's a short movie - something to watch out of curiosity. But don't expect bonafide Schrader.

`You are an odour in the nostrils of God,' jabbers religious zealot August Murray (Tom Arnold). He is damning sometime revivalist Bill Hill's (Christopher Walken) cynical marketing of Christ-like figure Juvenal (Skeet Ulrich essentially playing Edward Scissorhands minus the blades). Hill wearing a glitzy gold jacket and an enormous `Thank You Jesus' necklace sees a book deal and a slot on the awful Debra Lusanne Show (Gina Gershon superb at mimicking Ricki Lake with a snarl) for the innocent healer, who has stigmata on his rib cage.

In lesser hands than Paul Schrader, Elmore Leonard's non-crime novel could have become an overwrought toil in the evils of America's salacious media. However, Touch is actually a wryly amusing and unhurried look at faith and exploitation. The histrionics and belly laughs are bestowed upon the cameos, who obviously capture the best lines: `Do they make condoms that protect the soul' (Arnold) and `Controversy is the oxygen I breathe' (Gershon). Ultimately, best savoured on video. --Ben Walsh

Apparently touched by God, a young man named Juvenal (Skeet Ulrich) experiences episodes of Stigmata (spontaneous bleeding from five wounds just like Jesus after being crucified) and is able to heal the sick. Juvenal's first reaction to this phenomena is to hide in solitude. But then he decides to go on TV and signs a book deal with the help of evangelist/con-artist Bill Hill (Christopher Walken). His holy gift also helps him bag sexy music promoter Lynn Faulkner (Bridget Fonda), who doesn't seem to mind that his powers go away after they sleep together. This all may seem far-fetched at best. But then the Lord does work in mysterious ways.

A sometimes amusing but somewhat dark satire of faith, miracles, fundamentalism, and media exploitation is served up by writer/director Paul Schrader in `Touch,' adapted from the novel by Elmore Leonard. Laced with subtle humor that seems somewhat contradictory to the serious subject matter, this is a film that is quite interesting without being too compelling. After seven years in South America studying to be a monk, a young man returns to the States and the anonymity provided him by his work as a counselor at a Catholic rehab clinic. Far from your normal, would-be cleric, however, Juvenal (Skeet Ulrich) has a unique gift: he can heal people by touching them, at which time he exhibits the stigmata. It's something he cannot explain, and somehow manages to take in stride. Inevitably, word leaks out about it, and scam artist Bill Hill (Christopher Walken) is right on it when it happens. Currently an RV salesman, he is an ordained minister and former evangelist who once performed fake healings and had a huge, blue neon cross above his `church' that could be seen for miles from the interstate. And he sees great things in Juvenal's future, and a lot of money for himself. First, however, he must get close to the stigmatic, while sidestepping a friend of Juvenal's, one August Murray (Tom Arnold), a Catholic on a quest to revert the Mass to Latin and do away with guitar masses altogether. For help, Hill turns to his assistant, Lynn (Bridget Fonda), who must try to gain access to the elusive Juvenal; together, they concoct a plan to get her into the clinic, where she can make contact and put him together with Hill. To tell the tale, Schrader put together an excellent cast and seemingly has all the ingredients for a successful project; somehow though, it all comes off as fairly lackluster, but interesting nonetheless. Ulrich does a good turn as Juvenal, capturing the sincere ambiguity of the character's view of his own ability to perform miracles, and makes it convincing with his grounded approach and by underplaying rather than trying to make him into something more enigmatic than he really is. He makes it a very real study of how someone would possibly react upon being visited with the wounds of Christ. Walken does a passable job as Hill, but there's not a lot of depth to his performance, and for a character that should have been quite flamboyant, he seems rather subdued. Fonda, too, gives something of a one-note performance as Lynn, who is likable enough, but tends to come off as uninteresting. Tom Arnold comes away with the most memorable performance, playing the obsessive August in a straight forward manner that makes him convincing and humorous, while making you take pause to reflect about what kind of a guy this really is and wondering how many people like him are actually running around loose in the world today. The supporting cast includes Gina Gershon (Debra Lusanne), Conchata Ferrell, John Doe (Elwin), Janeane Garofalo (Kathy), Anthony Zerbe (Father Donahue), and Paul Mazursky (Artie). There are a lot of nice touches to this movie, and though it may not be one of Schrader's best, `Touch' is entertaining and somewhat thought provoking; one of the problems is that there are times when you don't know whether to laugh or simply ponder, which comes from the light approach to what is essentially a pretty heavy-duty subject. All in all, it's a decent movie and well worth a look; this is the kind of film that videos were made for. I rate this one 7/10.

I got to hand it to Paul Schrader for taking, at least for him at the time, something of a slight risk in making this film. It might seem like a thorny religiously-themed drama about a young man who has the power to heal people through his stigmata is ready for this director like all he has to do is pull up and lower his window at the drive-thru. But it's really because of who wrote the story, Elmore Leonard, and that as much as both of them are terrific writers (and Schrader can and has a good sense of starless-night-dark level of humor in a number of his works, Hardcore one of them), it doesn't seem like their styles would mesh. And... they don't. At least entirely.

Even more curious is that Schrader reputedly really wanted to adapt Rum Punch, but that was Tarantino's and if you make Pulp Fiction you don't get someone else snatching your stuff (would that have fit him any better? Maybe he would've stuck to closer to some details of that book while missing the humor of that? Who knows).

Point is he says today he chose this because it was the only one by EL that wasn't optioned - since it wasn't apparently as much of a success as his other bestsellers - and the film subsequently wasn't either. However in looking at Touch in the context of many other films Schrader made since, chiefly First Reformed but to a lesser extent Mishima, you get the idea why he would be attracted for whatever financial macro reasons for choosing it to make this film.

But the risk can be seen in the finished project that while Schrader has a pretty good (if not great) handle on the more grounded aspects of the narrative, like the relationship that unfolds between Ulrich and Fonda, the broader satirical material with Walken and especially Tom Arnold doesn't fly so well to me. Wait (cue up John Mulaney imitating Ice T from his bit on Law and Order SVU tone) are you telling me that the church exploits the people who can perform miracles? Whodathunk? I actually think Walken is fine as he's just... Walken, but Tom Arnold is a trickier performance to pin down.

That's another thing that is interesting to see in light of other Schrader works too, specifically Cedric in First Reformed and Tiffany Haddish in Card Player; clearly he has a love of generally comic performers who he can place into roles that are more dramatic in the context of his stories. And Arnold isn't even *bad* but just like he's acting in a movie that doesn't have the same tone, like he can't dial it any more down than he would for Austin Powers (True Lies, where he's amazing, is a whole other story). What's more frustrating is that he does get better closer to the latter part of the film, when he's at the bar getting laughed at by Walken, Davidovitch and Mazursky because that feels like a real heightened moment of stakes, and there's this look he gives before entering an apartment with a gun that is really harrowing.

Ultimately, there's a good deal to chew on here thematically, but they are soft targets and its is more of a, how do I say... pleasant watch than what I am used to from Schrader, where I often expect (even if it is bad) to shake me up and unsettle me. I know Schrader had the Leonard book and it was what it was to adapt it, and at the same time the larger societal aspects - newspapers and daytime talk shows are interested in this magic healer who looks an awful lot like Billy Loomis - get in the way of what is otherwise a fairly interesting character study of a guy who has this special gift and he is uncommonly chill about it. That's the movie. The rest of it is... I'm like Walken with that bagel frozen in time.

Lastly... Dave Grohl, what? And odd choice for composer, as rock music drifts in and out and creates a mood that is not one that fits what is trying to be more serious as a satire... except when it isn't.

Paul Schrader can be very erratic as a director. I think Affliction is his best film, by far, and this movie and Blue Collar are his next best. That said, you cannot be immune to the basic conceit and find it provocative, much less enjoyable. If you can accept that the Skeet Ulrich character may have St. Francis like qualities, and can really heal sick and handicapped people, Touch is a wonderful film. Christopher Walken (as always) is excellent as the ambitions and unseemly tent-show preacher, hell bent on making a fortune from the "healer-man"; and the others in the cast, Bridget Fonda, Anthony Zerbe and Tom Arnold especially, are excellent, too. Arnold, in particular, brings an amazing zeal and perfect, inadvertent humour to his portrayal of a slightly militarist, born again, religious fanatic. Certainly the movie raises more questions than it answers, and it is not quite as spiritually provocative or deep as Bigas Luna's Renacer, but it is certainly well worth watching.

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.

Paul Schrader's "Touch" is somewhat like "Stigmata" was a few years ago and unlike "Stigmata", "Touch" is more satire instead of horror.

The film is based on the novel by Elmore Leonard about a former monk, Juvenal (Skeet Ulrich), who has the chance to heal people that have some untreatable health problems with his hands. At the same time that, Juvenal suffers from stigmata, as Christ did on the cross. When the word about Juvenal becomes public, Bill Hill (Christopher Walken) and his assistant, Lynn (Bridget Fonda) are out to exploit him while August Murray (Tom Arnold), a jealous religious zealot who is out to prevent Hill and Lynn from using Juvenal.

Schrader, who wrote and directed the movie gives it a very appealing up to point and stops. Ulrich and Fonda do bring a nice chemistry on the screen, which helps the film in a way. The performances by Ulrich, Walken, and Fonda are very good, but Tom Arnold is hilarious in his scene-stealing role.

I thought "Touch" could have been a better satire film, but it does have an interesting way of presenting it.

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

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.

Elwin Worrel abuses his blind wife Virginia when he gets drunk. Bill Hill and Juvenal are present after one of his episodes, and when Juvenal puts his hands on Virginia, HALLELUJAH! She can SEE! Bill, who once had a church in Georgia with a 100-foot-cross and a blue neon sign saying "Jesus Saves", decides to take advantage of the situation. Lynn, who manages a rock band, goes undercover at the alcohol treatment center where Juvenal works. She discovers that he was a monk (born Charlie Lawson) and that he bleeds from where Jesus bled.

Standing in the way of possible success for Bill is August, a maniac who belongs to an organization seeking to return traditional Catholic mass.

This was a very strange movie, and not one that really appealed to me. It seemed to be a comedy, but a very dark one. What stood out the most for me was Tom Arnold, who often showed he had a career only because of who his wife was, but also had his good moments. In the courtroom near the start of the movie, he was very funny as he acted like he had the right to behave any way he wanted regardless of how the judge felt--his faith justified whatever he felt he needed to do. Arnold was quite convincing and respectful reading scripture (we heard him while seeing something else) and while leading a mass in place of Father Nestor, who was on one of his frequent bathroom breaks. His character had a strong faith and wouldn't back down, though he occasionally cursed and in other ways showed he wasn't "that" type of Christian. But he didn't show a positive image of Christianity; he felt using violence was justified. Hill also didn't show Christianity positively, but he was more of a joke.

Skeet Ulrich did a good job as Juvenal, but that character didn't appeal to me. Certainly the blood didn't.

There are certainly people who would like this kind of film, but I rarely found it funny.

I did not enjoy this movie. I read the book a while ago, and, although I can't remember exactly how I felt about it, I must have liked it somewhat, or I would not have rented this film. I rented it mostly to see Christopher Walken and Janeane Garofalo, but even they couldn't save this. It's quite boring, and it seems like a lot of the actors can't convey the story realistically. I really wanted to like this movie, but it was impossible.