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Touches You

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Not much happens in this movie. It's merely a glimpse into the life of a young woman living in New York, walking around somewhat aimlessly and stealing people's purses and car keys, out of boredom if for no other reason.I like the idea of a film giving us a close-up view of an unfamiliar character's life in that kind of manner. It's different from the same old high-concept stories we're used to seeing. And here it is done in such a great way and wonderfully edited to the point that I thoroughly enjoyed it and never found it boring. However, it's not for everyone. I know a lot of people will hate this film for the exact reasons that I loved it, because not much happens.The acting, in particular, is very good. It feels like these are professional actors with years of experience, despite the film's obviously tiny budget. I would say that it is the most well-acted film of such a low budget. It doesn't even feel like they're acting. It feels like they're real people, perhaps in a documentary but unaware that they're being filmed or followed.At one point in the movie, the lead character visits a zoo and gets close to a polar bear. When she's near the bear, it is clearly fake, as safety concerns would not allow her to be unprotected within feet of a dangerous animal. The fake bear is not at all well-done. I got the idea that they were trying to make it look real, but eventually gave up and accepted the fact that it was clearly a puppet and didn't even try to fix it. They just went with it. It felt like they should have cut that scene but perhaps decided that it was more charming. In any case, it certainly doesn't ruin the movie, especially considering that it is kind of a dreamlike scene that wasn't supposed to be real life.Another thing I liked about the film was its length at just over an hour. I felt like that was perfect for the story it was telling and I feel like a lot more films would be better if they had similar running times, as opposed to trying to squeeze an extra twenty minutes into a movie for the mere sake of making it longer because someone decided a long time ago that all feature films, regardless of their story, should be between one-and-a-half and two-and-a-half hours long.I liked this movie quite a bit, but I know many will disagree with my assessment. But if you want to risk it and find out if it's the film for you, it's a pretty safe wager, because even if you hate it, you will have wasted just a little more than an hour of your time.

I want the 70 minutes of my life back from having watched this film. THis film has no point, no plot, no answers NOTHING. I never did find out who or where those dang pets came from or what happened to them after. There was so much randomness that had nothing to do with anything else in the film and scenes that really made no sense.... Like why would cops let a girl loose in a zoo after arresting her for shoplifting? What the heck was the point of her imagining herself frolicking in ice water with a giant stuffed polar bear... mind you there are no other scenes where we see her having blatant hallucinations or a big imagination in other parts of the film. The film was just long and pointless and I really don't see how anyone can sit and pretend they "got" the film when there was nothing to get in the first place. I love indie films and artistic films. Even some of those indie, artistic, hipster films.... but this was just sheer garbage.

I caught the Polar Bear sequence of this movie while flipping through channels when it ran recently on Sundance and was intrigued enough to catch the entire film on a repeat screening the next day. From the opening sequence, I hunkered down for what was going to be a wild ride. I loved how this movie develops, not knowing where it's going with Eleonore randomly (yet expertly) picking off her victims. Each score opens up a new story. It's how life is in NYC, a random encounter on the street can completely change your life. You may find love, you may find heartache, you may find the most disgusting horror or the most sublime bliss. It was a perfect, slice-of-life movie about Manhattan. Others in this section have complained about Eleonore being unsympathetic or the lack of explanation for her motivation. She's not meant to be likable or admirable. If you've ever been the victim of robbery or theft (There is a circle in hell for whoever who stole my wallet from my car almost 30 years ago) there is nothing that will compel you to like her. Yet -- You are intrigued by her, even when she's being annoying (table tennis anyone?). To know what motivates the thievery would be to reduce it to a Lifetime movie. To observe her in action is to witness her process --how is she going to pull each score off? The "why" does not matter. I can understand why the filmmakers did not give the audience clues in the Q&A. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.I was very impressed with many aspects of the movie. Casting and performances were spot on, every character made you curious for more details and more info. There is a movie waiting to be made for every person in this film. Those two cops! Hilarious. The doorman, the father and the daughter! Loved them. The man with the kid at the playground! More! The couple throwing around money at the bar! MORE! The man telling everyone "You're beautiful/handsome!" Yes, more please! With each score, the details of the booty became intriguing in backstory. I would love to know the connection between the book about Sarkozy and the woman in the bar. Where did her money come from? Why does the dad have four kittens in a puppy in the same bag? The use of locations in Manhattan felt very real, without being the touristy version that you get in most movies about NYC. This is the everyday Manhattan that feels lived-in and loved in. The glossy fake universe of SATC and other big-budget movies is absent (although I would love to live in Carrie/Big's apartment in SATC1).My only critique is in the ending. While I'm glad that Eleonore is eventually caught, the sequence in Virgin Megastore threw me off 1) Because that store is out of business (yes, I know the movie was shot in 2007/8) and 2) as someone else pointed out, she steals a DVD to place in the CD player. Perhaps that was a comment about how disorienting being busted was to Eleonore. But for me, it just felt like a "meh." The Polar Bear sequence at the zoo opened up an intriguing possibility about her reality (or lack of) that could have taken the film further. I am thrilled to learn that this movie is on DVD and will get it to experience the commentary track and short film extras. This film has made me very curious about the work of Joshua Safdie and the Red Bucket Brigade. I will seek out more of their work.

Unfortunately I had the displeasure of watching this schlock last night. My girl and I like indy movies, so after reading a blurb describing it we decided to order it on demand. It said that this "movie" got rave reviews at Cannes. After this I will never trust Cannes critics again as they must write their reviews between crack cocaine parties.The other bad reviews written here perfectly describe what this movie is. In the first 5 minutes I got a very bad feeling and told my girl, "This better get a whole lot better soon". It never did. The film has no plot whatsoever and is completely pointless "mumblecore". "Mumblecore" is a perfect term for it and I wasn't aware of such a term until reading reviews of it last night (unfortunately, after I spent $6.99 and killed 70 minute of my life on it). Apparently, mumblecore is a trendy term used to justify supposed artistic value of totally pointless, talentless garbage.This movie has moved into #2 spot in the worst movie I've ever seen list. The only one worse was a movie called "Black Dahlia" by a German scam artist who shoots crap on video, tags it with a title of a well known Hollywood film, hires a graphic designer to make a nice cover for it and somehow gets it into Blockbuster so that people rent it by mistake."Freddy Got Fingered", an atrociously gross, completely unfunny "comedy" by Tom Green has been downgraded to the #3 worst movie I've ever seen, as this one has taken over the #2 spot. That is some achievement.Is this what passes for movie making among the artsy fartsy teens these days? I hope that the director who also "starred" in it at least got laid with the main character. I'm pretty sure that was the main goal of making this.I feel robbed of $6.99 it cost me to order this waste of film on demand, but like the victims of petty theft in the movie I didn't experience any pleasure of being robbed. The only good thing about this film is that it's only 70 minutes long. The bad part is that you can show everything that takes place in it in a 10-minute short.I can make a more entertaining film by walking around NYC with my camcorder for a couple of days.Unless you're on crack like the guy who wrote the positive review of it on here (possibly the director himself or one of his buddies) save yourself 70 minutes of your life. If you spend the same 70 minutes popping bubble wrap bubbles you'll get more entertainment out of your time.