In Affecting ‘Touch,’ Romantic Comedy Takes Serious Turn

“Touch Me” shrewdly begins like such a standard romantic comedy that it never occurs to you that it’s heading in a wholly unexpected direction. A likable, good-looking young man, Adam (Michael Vartan), running a local health club owned by his hard-driving father (Stephen Macht), starts falling for a lovely young actress, Bridgette (Amanda Peet), who pays the rent working as a yoga instructor.

The attraction is mutual, and just as their romance commences, Bridgette receives word that an old boyfriend (Tim Quill) is dying and wants to see her. What she’s greeted with is a man in the final stages of AIDS who advises her that she get tested. (Why he waited until very nearly his last breath to inform her is unclear and surely irresponsible in any case.) You guessed it: She tests positive.

Writer-director H. Gordon Boos follows up his strong--and very different--debut film, “Red Surf,” a tale of past-their-prime surfers, with a quite convincing portrayal of the plight of a young woman who knows so little about AIDS that she automatically takes the news of her HIV-positive status as an imminent death sentence. None of her friends know any more about AIDS than she does--her vivacious roommate (Kari Wuhrer), in fact, swiftly moves out--and Bridgette’s life comes apart, despite the kindness of an AIDS counselor (Greg Louganis).

Indeed, you do wonder why “Touch Me” is practically over before we actually see Bridgette with a doctor, prescription medicine in hand. Even so, you buy this group portrait of young straight people who never think about AIDS beyond practicing safe sex.

Peet does a splendid job of portraying an appealing young woman who is so devastated that she has difficulty accepting the possibility of living with an HIV-positive status. Vartan also excels as the man who must discover how he truly feels about a woman he has only recently met and whether he wants to be part of her life--if she lets him. Louganis and Macht head a solid supporting cast. By the time it’s over, “Touch Me” is likely to touch you.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: some language, adult themes.

‘Touch Me’

Amanda Peet: Bridgette

Michael Vartan: Adam

Peter Facinelli: Bail

Kari Wuhrer: Margot

A Devin Entertainment presentation. Writer-director H. Gordon Boos. Producers Greg H. Sims and David Scott Rubin. Executive producer Sims. Cinematographer Giles Dunning. Editor Steve Nevius. Costumes Denise Wingate. Music Claude Foisy. Production designer Abigail Mannox. Ina Mayhew. Set decorator Paul Weathered. Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes.

* Exclusively at NuWilshire, 1314 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 394-8099.