Touchy Feely 2013

Stephen Holden, New York Times: "Touchy Feely" becomes disoriented and doesn't recover its direction. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: "Touchy Feely'' works better in its funnier moments, but Shelton - who pads things out with way too many scenic shots of Seattle - never pulls all these threads together into a satisfying whole. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: There's something fresh and new here, something that wasn't so dominant in [Shelton's] previous work. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: The screenplay is so muddled that it's hard to fathom what it's trying to convey, despite a twin dose of magical realism that screams "high concept." Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Touchy Feely is minor, but these people are good company. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Shelton's latest is warm but less endearing than its predecessors. Read more

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: A work that gestures toward depths without truly plumbing them. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Shelton is more observant than she is deep, and her filmmaking can be undisciplined, but the movie's rambling, episodic rhythms do seem in tune with the nebulous stasis that infects everyone in Abby's orbit. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Shelton's oh-so-slight veer toward whimsy and artifice this time turns her previous strengths into weaknesses. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The actors are all first-rate and the performances are fascinating, though Shelton, who shuns exposition, makes you work to figure out the interrelationships. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: Despite its hints of New Age mysticism and serviceable performances from an able cast, Touchy Feely is too entrenched in its dour tone to be uplifting. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: The kind of film that makes you wish they had perfected choose-your-own-adventure technology for movies, one that would allow you to ditch the central character and follow any number of the story's more interesting second bananas. Read more

Sam Adams, Time Out: Like her characters, Shelton doesn't know what to do when things actually happen. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Trading her improv-based filmmaking style for a more traditional screenplay-grounded model, Lynn Shelton delivers an uneven mix of half-formed conflicts in Touchy Feely. Read more

Violet Lucca, Village Voice: Just as tedious as waiting in a dentist's office for an hour and a half, Lynn Shelton's latest fumblingly cutesy outing ought to be her last. Read more