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.
