Best movie of this year hands down!

Touches You

Best movie ever!

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

Having ventured by accident into a cinema showing a puerile teen comedy, a stuffy and "slightly" behind-the-times London writer, Giles De'Ath (John Hurt), who is entering the latter part of his life, becomes infatuated with a youthful male film actor, a guy named Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestley). Smitten, Giles discovers everything he can about the handsome young man, including the fact that he lives in the Hamptons, on Long Island. Giles then travels to Long Island, hoping to meet Ronnie.This film is very much a character study of Giles, a man who lives a lonely, solitary life, cloistered in his London residence, with only a housekeeper. In Giles' own words: "For many years I had absolutely no public life". But he's articulate, knowledgeable, and old-world educated. He's also intellectually curious, and very resourceful.The infatuation, which becomes an obsession, I can understand. That he embarks on such an improbable journey, and the outcome of that journey, seems a tad far-fetched. Still, it makes a reasonably interesting, though very slow-paced, story. The first half contains some humor, as Giles, wanting to see more films that Ronnie is in, learns the difference between a VCR and a microwave oven.John Hurt's performance is adroit enough to keep the viewer's interest in Giles, assuming that one is predisposed to the attitudes of an unexcitable, older man. Jason Priestley plays himself, more or less. The film's tone is introspective and slightly melancholy. Background music is nondescript. Color cinematography is conventional, but competent.Similar in theme to "Death In Venice", absent the magnificent visuals and music of the 1971 classic, "Love And Death On Long Island" will appeal to viewers to the extent that they find Giles and his quest for lost love engaging.

First I need to point out that John Hurt, as usual, does a fabulous job of acting in the film. I have always loved his work and he does himself credit by his performance. So, I feel a little bad about not liking the movie more than I did. The problem, for me, is that the plot and the pairing with Jason Priestly just didn't seem to make any sense. You see, Hurt is an elderly writer who is living WAY behind the times--owning no television, going to see no movies and living a quiet quiet and isolated life. Then, on a lark, he finally decides to go to a movie and enters the wrong theater. Instead of an E. M. Forrester film (or some other respected British writer), he walks into a theater showing a brain-dead teen movie (sort of like Porky's). However, once the movie begins, he is captivated by the actor, Priestly, and becomes infatuated with him. Then, he spends the next 75% of the movie going from Britain to Long Island to try to find and befriend Priestly. This just didn't make ANY sense at all. It's not because of the homosexuality, but it would have been equally silly and unbelievable if he'd fallen for some young female in the movie and spent the movie pursuing her.Think about it--it would be like a writer with perhaps the reputation of a John Updike or Joseph Heller seeing Britney Spears on MTV and then dropping everything to pursue her!

What a wonderful piece of acting John Hurt gives us as Giles a naive English writer visiting Long Isalnd for the first time. Completely obsessed with the discovery of all the modern electronic gadgetry, he purchases TV and video equipment, shuts himself away and enters a new and exciting world.He becomes besotted with the image of a handsome young actor Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestley) a favourite among teen-age movie-goers. It's as if he is starting a completely new life with a new warmth he has never known before.The urge to help Ronnie in his career so that he will always be close to him is the predominant theme of the film. John Hurt's performance as the older man restraining his true feelings for a handsome young man of another generation is faultless and truly absorbing. Conversations between the two men are the highlights of the film and the confession scene extremely moving.Ronnie Bostock's girl friend Audrey ( Fiona Loewi) is both charming and beautiful and adds a sweet touch to the story. She is responsible for bringing the writer and actor together. The story is punctuated with little episodes of wry humour brought about by people who live entirely different lives.Altogether a very satisfying film that shows how some of us live in a cocoon unaware of the extreme joy and subsequent disappointment that lies beyond.

This film turned up late at night on TV in Australia for the first time recently. John Hurt is magnificent as an innocent abroad. An English writer who lives in New York but pretends it's Edwardian London, he suddenly decides to venture into the real world and sees a teen film by mistake, falling in love with a young actor.There are some rather predictable scenes showing humorous incidents where the naive Giles learns about the modern world - vide a million other films like Crocodile Dundee - but the acting is so good that you can mostly ignore the feeling of deja vu.One of the best things about this film is that it never goes over the top. There are no explosions or car chases, the President of the USA doesn't get involved, and nor does the popular press. It's funny, poignant, literate and a joy to watch.