Touches You

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I don't usually review films, but I began this movie with high hopes. The rating is at 6.4, which is damn near Oscar nomination worthy as far as lgbt movies go. 5 minutes in and I'm assaulted by atrocious acting. I thought to myself, maybe I got the movie mixed up. I came back to IMDb to look at some of the reviews, and what pains me most is one reviewer that gave this movie 10 stars admitting that the acting was horrible and that the script wasn't the best. And then this reviewer compared the movie to Shelter (which really was one of those Oscar nomination worthy as far as lgbt films go). But I decided to keep watching. The film really destroyed my concentration. It's not like there is just 1 bad actor, but a litter of them that come in the form of teachers and coaches and parents of the two teens. I'm all for letting a few things slide on account of budget issues, but lets call a spade a spade and admit that this was terrible. If we can't judge a film by the actors' ability to act or the script, then what criteria are we using to judge this? I hope that we're not judging based on the porn scene or the fact that the kids are naked quite a few times in the movie. The basics of the film's script were solid, but it needed to be polished quite a bit. I operate on a scale of 4 to 10, 4 being bad, 10 being outstandingly perfect. And few times I will use the rating of 1 just to say that the film was completely atrocious. I give this film a 4, which is the lowest on my basic scale and the only reason it didn't get a 1 is because the kid dies at the end, and I felt like justice was served. Just kidding. Like I said, the foundation of the script was solid, it was just executed very poorly.

Let me begin on the positive side: this is definitely a very sympathetic and sensitive movie, made with integrity and feeling. The storyline is basically simple: a somewhat nerdy and sexually inexperienced adolescent, who's wavering about his true sexual identity, involuntarily gets hooked up with a stunning looking but not so bright jock from the swimming-team and falls in love with him, all the more triggered by the jock's casual flirtatious attitude. This unequal pairing evokes all kinds of trouble, leading to a tragic climax. Photography and direction are fine and the movie is impressively carried by the two protagonists, played by Tyle Olson and Kyle Clare, who are equally convincing in their own storyline as well as in their mutual infatuation.On the other hand I also had some serious reservations about the script. There's just too much stuff going on here, too much issues make the movie rather top-heavy. It's not just (as one would expect) about coming-out as gay and experiencing a first love (and sex) and (as a result) confrontation with rejection and prejudice. That alone would maybe not have been very original but it would have been enough to fill a whole movie. Here they also brought in gay bashing, child-neglect due to divorced parents, alcoholism, drugs-abuse, school-exam fraud and in the end even suicide. By cramping all this in one and a half hour it necessarily results in a somewhat superficial handling of some of these issues. Especially the escalating drug-abuse of Carter and his suicide could have used a more thorough build-up. I also regretted the introduction and the ending of the movie: we see Danny, many years later with his lover (for most of the ensuing movie we're left in the dark whether that lover is the adult Carter or not), making the core of the movie a flash-back in time. It didn't seem to serve any purpose and the point of the movie would have been as strong (or even stronger) without it. The supporting characters are a bit shallow: the mother of Danny is the only one with a substantial and meaningful part in the story, but Carter's father stays a caricature; the stern and rigid coach played by Greg Louganis hasn't much more to do than just be that: stern and rigid (probably Louganis added his name and person to the project out of sympathy); and Danny's best girlfriend (why does every gay guy in a movie always gets hooked-up with a "best girlfriend"!?!) has hardly two whole minute's screen time and for some unfathomable reason is forced to fill these minutes while stumbling around with a crutch (did the hired actress sprain her ankle on her day of shooting or did I miss some metaphor in that?!). Karen Black as the art-teacher maybe could have made more of her character than this mother-like bohemien who huskily whispers positive thoughts to the insecure Danny. She only comes to real life when she tries to persuade a colleague teacher not to pursue a detected fraud by Danny and Carter.On the other hand the opposite characters of Danny and Carter are worked-out very well, as was the gradually growing sexual attraction between the two, which was convincing and actually very sensual. There's a little bit of discreet nudity, not too much to distract from the story but enough to understand the sexual appeal that Carter had on Danny. And the central love-scene was beautifully staged and filmed in a dreamlike atmosphere with rain pouring all over the two entangled bodies. There was palpable chemistry between the two guys, in spite of their odd coupling (which of course was the whole point of the story). As I said before, the suicide was a bit too much for me, maybe it was a logic result of all the goings-on with Carter, but in the build-up of the movie it came quite out-off the blue and we never get any actual explanation, no farewell letter or anything. The total devastation of Danny is understandable, but here the director could have used a little bit more restraint: Danny's extreme gushes of crying are on the brink of hysteria and just not enough in sync with his calm and restrained nature.Olson and Clare do a great job, as mentioned before. Both are good-looking, Clare as a stunning blond Adonis, and Olson in a more endearing and cute way. In my opinion Olson seemed the most promising actor of the two, but this may have been due to the script that made his character more multi-layered than Clare's Carter. All in all I enjoyed this movie very much and I give it a heart-felt 8 out-of 10.

Not only is Tye butt ugly in the face and has this horrible sarcastic look on his face all movie long but he portrays this character that is full of himself, self serving and a total victim. I found myself disgusted at this character's actions and final "solution". A total coward and unmitigated ass. He was completely unworthy of the affections of his lover from start to finish. Young people like this character are exactly what is wrong with the gay community. it should have been him who was bashed, not his naive lover.On the whole the movie is a self indulgent dramatic waste. I hope for All the gay folks out there that they don't have lovers like Danny Wheeler As their first loves, or anywhere along the way either.

I haven't seen this movie, but the DVD is due to arrive in the mail tomorrow. I logged onto IMDb to see what other viewers had to say. Don't EVER question why there are very few gay movies made. Every old queen and every too young adventurer always become superior critics. This is a gay movie. It does not star Meryl Streep, Robert DeNiro, or Sean Penn. Gays movies cannot accumulate large budgets and do the best they can with the material and cast they can find to work for free or pennies. I remember the first big studio gay movie, "Making Love" with Harry Hamlin, Michael Ontkean, and Kate Jackson, directed by Arthur Hiller. This movie was blasted bigger than Nagasaki. It all but ended Hamlin's and Ontkean's careers. It took a quarter of a century to get the venomous taste out of the critics mouths before "Brokeback Mountain" was finally accepted. BUT, how many major gay films have been made since? The most popular gay novel in the world, "The Front Runner" has been sitting on some studios shelf for nearly half a century. Everyone is afraid of either making it or starring in it. Hats off to the producer of "Watercolors" for putting forth the effort. It did win two major LBGT film festival awards. BUT as another reviewer stated, the cast was excellent except for the coach. MAN! He's the reason I'm seeing the movie. Greg Louganis, not only an Olympic Champion, but a drama major. Why was his acting singled out? Couldn't that sentence have been omitted? Why must we as gays, destroy our own culture...music, theatre, movies??? Can't we EVER find words of praise to encourage MORE gay entertainment? Remember the old adage, "If you can't find something good to say...". I'm really looking forward to enjoying this movie tomorrow. ______________________________ addendum: I finally saw the movie this afternoon and it's haunted me the rest of the evening. One of the two leads has practically no experience at all, yet he sustained his character as a professional. I really found nothing to criticize...only words of praise and hope that this will be the first of many features by the director. The entire cast was superb. Music was expertly used. I don't watch gay porn, but I do collect gay films with good stories...THIS is one of the best. It ranks high with "Latter Days" and "Shelter". Ten Stars!