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 peopleWalken 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 :)

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.

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 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.