Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Touch Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf April 23, 2024

While writer/director Paul Schrader has collected the admiration of cineastes and movie journalists over the years, he’s certainly not a consistent filmmaker. While interested in making intelligent pictures about difficult subjects, Schrader doesn’t always show a command of storytelling and performance. 1997’s “Touch” is a notable example of the helmer’s unsteadiness when it comes to selling a tale of challenging tones, with Schrader trying his luck adapting a 1987 Elmore Leonard novel during a time in Hollywood when such a creative undertaking was all the rage (“Get Shorty,” “Jackie Brown,” “Out of Sight”). “Touch” is tricky, exploring the ways of love, religious zealotry, and exploitation, and Schrader can’t manage the juggling act required to keep the feature interesting, fumbling the interests of multiple characters. There are a few provocative elements to the endeavor, but it’s mostly clumsy and a bit of a chore to finish, with Schrader often unsure what he wants the effort to be.

When Bill (Christopher Walken) checks in on his blind friend, Virginia (Conchata Ferrell), who’s dealing with her abusive spouse, Elwin (John Doe), he witnesses a miraculous moment with the arrival of Juvenal (Skeet Ulrich). A healer and stigmatic, Juvenal cures Virginia, wowing Bill, a former evangelist preacher looking to escape his current vocational woes. Bill turns to record promoter Lynn (Bridget Fonda) for help, hiring her to get close to Juvenal at the Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center, where he attempts to aid those in need, continuing his work after living as a Franciscan monk in South America for years. Instead of extracting answers, Lynn falls in love with the mystery saint, with the pair embarking on a relationship. Bill still wants his man, organizing interest in the secret ways of Juvenal, turning to journalist Kathy (Janeane Garofalo) to help create public curiosity about the healer, with plans to transform him into a celebrity after an interview with talk show host Debra (Gina Gershon). Also looking to control Juvenal is August (Tom Arnold), a print shop owner, militant Catholic, and leader of O.U.T.R.A.G.E. (Organization Unifying Traditional Rites As God Expects), who wants the stigmatic to help return order to the church.

Of course, Schrader has spent his entire career investigating stories about religion, inspecting the sacrifices and frustrations of faith in many forms. “Touch” should play to his strengths, as it primarily deals with strange people with many ideas about God confronting evidence of a holy reality through Juvenal’s stigmatic events. He bleeds and heals, and any ambiguity of such magic is quickly tossed aside as the characters start to circle the man, hunting for ways he can help them, either physically, professionally, or monetarily. Bill concocts a scheme with Lynn to reach Juvenal, but this plan falls apart right away, launching a romantic subplot where the tired record promoter is fascinated by the rehab employee, bewitched by his abilities and focus on her. “Touch” spends a lot of time on this pairing, which doesn’t show much life due to awkward staging of romantic scenes and a general lack of chemistry between Fonda and Ulrich, who’s wildly miscast as a worldly, enigmatic thirtysomething man of deep religious contemplation.

More promising is Bill, a practiced religious huckster who’s found a way out of the RV business, looking to capture Juvenal and exploit his stigmata for his own profit. Walken goes Walken-ing in the role, which helps “Touch” find some desperately needed energy, but like most of the characters collected here, there isn’t enough time spent to really grasp motivations and feelings. Perhaps the only player in this game that’s vividly imagined is August, simply because he’s a force of violence in the name of God, showing little patience with others as he oversees his own organization devoted to the restoration of Catholic tradition, occasionally picking up a gun to define his intent. “Touch” should snowball into a network of personalities all wanting something from Juvenal, but it fumbles the development of supporting characters, including Kathy, a seasoned journalist who feels like she was once a larger part of the plot. And there’s the inexplicable appearance of stripper Antoinette (Lolita Davidovich), the mother of a young boy healed by Juvenal who suddenly arrives in the second half of the feature, but doesn’t contribute anything of dramatic value.

Touch Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) is listed as a "new 2K restoration from the 35mm interpositive." "Touch" arrives with a softer level of detail, with some skin particulars remaining open for examination, along with costuming textures. Interiors are acceptable, with a decent sense of decoration. Exteriors retain some depth. Color is compelling, with sufficient primaries and natural skin tones. More varies hues also retain presence during club and church visits. Blood red remains distinct, along with greenery. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is capably resolved. Source is in passible condition, with judder present.

Touch Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While an "original 5.1 theatrical soundtrack" is listed on the packaging, "Touch" only contains a 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix. Clarity is strong with dialogue exchanges, following performance choices and quieter moments of intimacy. The guitar-driven score sounds fresh and deep, with sharp instrumentation. Atmospherics are appreciable as the story visits locations and deals with community events.

Touch Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Booklet (40 pages) contains essays by Bilge Ebiri, Chris Cabin, and Cosmo Bjorkenheim.

• Commentary features filmmaker Steve Mitchell and film historian Howard S. Berger.

• "Shelf Life" (12:34, HD) is an interview with writer/director Paul Schrader, who recounts his fandom of Elmore Leonard, trying to follow Quentin Tarantino's lead after his work with the author's material. For "Touch," Schrader selected one of Leonard's least successful novels, providing a challenge for the helmer, who wanted to make a comedy about stigmata. Casting is celebrated, identifying Christopher Walken as entering the "brand" movement of his career, with Schrader told to stay away from directing him. The interviewee also analyzes the creation of a "language" with collaborators, working closely with cinematographer Edward Lachman. Schrader closes with a discussion of his financial failures, but also the "shelf life" of his work, including enduring interest in 1979's "Hardcore."

• "Something Approaching Confrontation" (12:11, HD) is a visual essay by Daniel Kremer.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:24, SD) is included.

Touch Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Touch" teases fascinating directions for the story, including Juvenal's question of purpose and unsteady powers. The feature also attempts to build something resembling a climax during a taping of Debra's show, which transforms into a clunky take on trash television shenanigans. Perhaps Leonard's novel was never meant for a cinematic realization, and Schrader doesn't have the right snappiness to make the material come alive with elements of satire and sobering realities. It's something of a mess, and a film that simply stops instead of concludes, hinting at the presence of some final cut issues, or perhaps desperation editing. "Touch" has potential (scoring from Dave Grohl is exceptional, providing a rocking rhythm for an endeavor that doesn't match it), but it doesn't connect as an offering of intimacy and insanity, with Schrader keeping the effort quite mild and somewhat uneventful, laboring to shape a movie that's meant to be semi-farcical and mysterious. Instead, it's mostly snoozy and unsatisfying.