I Love You... Don't Touch Me!

I Love You... Don't Touch Me!

Starting with its overzealous title, the one-liners in I Love You… Don't Touch Me! zip by and flop at such a furious rate that after a while, you can't help but develop a certain affection for the movie. Amped to 11, writer-director Julie Davis' neurotic comedy tries so hard to ingratiate itself to its audience that even when it's not working—which is most of the time—it's at least done in the generous spirit of entertainment. Davis, who cut her teeth editing promo spots for the Playboy Channel, comes up with a fantasy of her own: an attractive, sex-obsessed, 25-year-old virgin, abrasively played by Marla Schaffel. Still mired in the Tori Spelling-esque dilemma of saving herself for the perfect love or giving it up to a lesser man, Schaffel frustrates her platonic boyfriend (Mitchell Whitfield) and promiscuous co-worker (Meredith Scott Lynn) with her self-righteous hang-ups. When she finally does fall for someone, her dull instincts lead her to an unctuous, womanizing composer (Michael Harris) nearly twice her age. With its energetic mix of sputtering romance and stand-up kvetching, Davis' $64,000 debut is basically the unpolished, indie daughter of Annie Hall, complete with a subplot in which Schaffel aspires to be a nightclub singer (a la Diane Keaton). But without anything close to Woody Allen's humor or insight, I Love You just makes you look forward to his annual fall release all the more.

 
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