Touchy Feely marks writer/director Lynn Shelton’s third feature film in five years. While not quite as prolific as other “mumblecore” colleagues (Drinking Buddies’ Joe Swanberg, for example, has churned out eight in only three years), Shelton’s brand of low-budget, improv-heavy relationship dramedies lends itself well to a quick turnaround. It’s only natural then that such an output would inevitably lead to the occasional misstep. Perhaps that explains why, after the unequivocal artistic success that was 2009’s Humpday and 2012’s Your Sister’s Sister, Touchy Feely feels like a disappointing, watered-down follow-up.
The film depicts two inversely parallel stories. Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt) is a free-spirited, earthy woman who makes a living as an in-demand message therapist. Shortly after her boyfriend (Scoot McNairy) proposes that she move in with him, however, Abby suddenly develops a quite literal sickness to human contact, derailing both her personal and professional lives. Meanwhile, her brother, Paul (Josh Pais), shown to be as uptight as Abby is vivacious, finds his flailing dental business suddenly flourishing after he inexplicably develops a “healing touch” that cures his patients of their every ache and pain. This subsequently provides the first step in thawing the tense relationship he has with his daughter/dental assistant, Jenny (Ellen Page).
Touchy Feely finds Shelton dipping a toe into more conventional filmmaking. While last year’s Your Sister’s Sister displayed a more polished sensibility, the performances and dialogue nevertheless lent it the organic, naturalistic feel found in her early work.
If there remains any such spontaneity in Touchy Feely, it has been whittled down to the point of non-existence. Gone here are the rough edges and loose feel that define much of Shelton’s work. While even her best films could feel meandering at times, such a pace allowed the actors time to craft grounded, well-rounded characters who effectively serviced the films’ conflicts. Perhaps due to the sheer abundance of characters this time around, there is much less time spent developing each one. This stands as a significant problem, especially considering the magical realism elements inherent in the premise. Whereas Shelton’s touch could previously make even the most ludicrous of plotlines feel emotionally honest—case in point, the drunken sex agreement between two straight friends that drives the plotline of Humpday—much of comedic set pieces and situations in Touchy Feely come across as the kind of overly quirky shtick that one finds in a mediocre Sundance-bound comedy by a first-time director.