January 3, 2014 -- Fear of commitment, longing for the unattainable, new age healing and drugs are some of the themes explored in the romantic comedy drama “Touchy Feely.”

A family headed by the repressed dentist, Paul (played by Josh Pais of “Arbitrage”) is functioning at a low level. Paul's practice is barely above water. His distracted and unhappy daughter, Jenny (Ellen Page of “Inception”) works for him. His sister, Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt of “The Watch”) is having trouble deciding if she should move in with her boyfriend, Jesse (Scoot McNairy of “Argo”). Jesse, who works in a bike shop, is the only person in this group who is at peace with himself.

Another key character is a reiki (a kind of Japanese holistic therapy) healer, Bronwyn (Allison Janney of “The Way, Way Back”). Abby is a massage therapist, but also a client and friend of Bronwyn. Abby persuades her brother to visit Bronwyn, and he seems to open up. He even begins to learn reiki techniques himself. When Jesse asks Abby to move in with him, she says yes, but has trouble actually moving in. She suddenly develops an aversion to touching human skin and has to stop her massage practice.

She visits Bronwyn, who suggests she take the drug ecstacy, which might break down the barriers between herself and Jesse. The pills end up having some odd side effects. Meanwhile, Jenny has a revelation of her own in an emotional confrontation with Jesse. Jenny also tries to boost her father's business by spreading the word that he is a healer after one of his patients, Henry (Tomo Nakayama) is suddenly healed after Paul cleans his teeth. Henry's jaw problem is gone and he regains the ability to sing.

Paul's sudden popularity takes a dive when an an angry, hyperventilating patient collapses in his waiting room. There are confrontations everywhere by the time this film is over. The film is less a narrative than a character study, however. It is more of a drama than a comedy, but it does have its comic elements.

The acting in this film is superb by the entire cast. The characters are well-drawn, well-meaning and interesting. There is no real villain here. All the characters are good people bumbling their way through life with varying degrees of success. Writer-director Lynn Shelton's previous two films, “Humpday” and “Your Sister's Sister” were similar to this in some ways, but I think this one works a bit better than either of those two films. This film rates a B.

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