Too much of everything

To me, this movie is perfection.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

"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. http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

Well, like I'm sure many have, I also claimed to wanting to watch DeWitt in almost anything. 'YSS/Your sister's sister' was followed by that fracking movie with Matt Damon and John Krasinski, in which DeWitt didn't have much to do, but hey, she was there, the voice of Damon's conscience (mm-hmm). Well, she's in this one too, re-teaming with her YSS director, Lynn Shelton. It's a surreal kinda tale, with the tone weaving more towards the comedic rather than the dramatic, which was the strength of YSS. It spins 2 parallel tales of siblings, where one's fortune in their chosen profession takes off, along with cementing certain personal relationships as well, while the other's fortunes nosedive in parallel. While observing both these whimsical tales is interesting, strangely enough, there's a connection lacking between the protagonists and us, the audience. The cast's fantastic, with Alison Janney having a nice coupla scenes (but not enough, esp. towards the end), along with Ellen 'Juno' Page, Scoot 'Killing them softly' 'Argo' 'In search of a midnight kiss' McNairy and Ron 'Office Space' 'Swingers' 'Drinking Buddies' Livingston (who's in this for 1 scene, sorry RL fans).All of that casting comes to naught though, and I classify this under being one of those 'missed efforts', of which there seem to be so much floating out there. Still, its an Indie, and its got Rosemarie DeWitt, and I'd watch her in anything, even repeatedly.Its also surprising that the movie doesn't use one of its key conceits (that kinda makes its appearance a little bit towards the end) to more effect, in spite of its having been 'used' by both of its key protagonists. And what does each 'learn' from their predicament - no answer. Where is their arc? Maybe there was one, but I definitely missed it. Why don't we go deeper into the metaphors for 'massage', 'Reiki' (one needs touch, and the other uses your 'aura', therefore needing no touch - what do they mean to one another in the context of this flick) and even 'dentistry' - no clue. All of this came across as kinda half-baked, but perhaps Shelton was leaning towards being abstract, the way most Indies wanna get to be. I did not get it the way it was perhaps intended.Well, all that being said, I need to watch it for DeWitt once again, though its kinda surprising that Pais gets more screen-time than she does.

It is listed as a comedy, but you won't be laughing. This is a story about a family of frail people who finally as one start to open up to the world around them. Each of them has their own protective layer that they need to break out of, and it is really not funny to watch. It is not a bad story, and it is told by a great cast, and the rural Seattle area looks great in the travel montages. I didn't like it, but you probably will. And Ellen Page is just so tiny, and broken in this her character never seems to really get better, and then she does no reason why. You could say that the healing of her Aunt, and Father was what she needed to heal herself, but you never see her actually healed as a result, just the result itself.

'Touchy Feely' is yet another Indie film which depicts the repressed behaviors and ho-hum dilemmas of middle-class American families. The opening act is set at an awkward dinner, where it's revealed that a dentist single father is obstructing his daughter's artistic potential by employing her as an assistant, while his sister works as a massage therapist, and prevaricates over moving in with her unambitious boyfriend.Their issues soon materialize in bizarre ways - the dentist discovers his touch can miraculously cure long-standing dental ailments, while the massage therapist suddenly finds herself repulsed by human skin. The fine cast does their best with the material, but this lightweight fable makes little sense as pivotal plot-lines are swept under the carpet, or else forgotten by the screenwriter. By the time everybody gathers for a second dinner, most of the family problems have magically evaporated thanks to the glib ministrations of a Reiki therapist, an ex-lover's apology, the songs of an Asian folk singer and a couple of tabs of ecstasy.