Review: The Midas Touch

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

The Midas Touch
Directed by Tilman Borck
FTB Productions; Indie Rights Movies
110 minutes, 2020
https://www.themidastouch.online/

In the words of Seth Meyers, “what we need right now” is a good sexually religious farcical comedy that is not afraid to push that proverbial envelope to beyond its flap. Director, writer, and actor Tilman Borck dips his – err – toe into the pool with this updating of the Greek legend of King Midas, but with a tug n twist, if not several.

Gino Wilson

We are introduced to milquetoast Felix Blythe (Gino Wilson), who is a low-level advertising drone in an office. Unlike the meaning of his name – “Felix” is happy and peppy, “Blythe” (blithe) indicates carefree – Felix is a humdrum worker who is constantly bullied by his boss Ron (Clayton Nemrow) and co-workers, and looked down upon by others for his shy spirit. While he has literal dreams of sexual exploits with beautiful women, in actuality, like the chartered accountant in the Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch, his life is “dull, dull, dull…” He is a “very quiet man in a very loud world.”

The other main characters are the polar opposite of Felix, in that they are colorful, but bizarre. There’s self-help guru Sviatoslav Rău (the director, Borck) and his hapless Sidekick (Bernhard Bozian), both of whom dress as if it were the 19 Century, with cane and cape; a Trump-ish self-centered right-wing politician James Walker (Nicolas Buitrago); and his sensuous and statuesque wife, Sarah (Transylvania-born Noémi Domokos), upon whom Felix has a crush. Sarah also runs a small religious cult comprised of women.

Tilman Borck, Bernhard Bozian

While drowning his sorrows, Felix manages to inherit the titular Midas Touch. In a nutshell, it is a hex that can become a curse, even to him. This is not a fairy tale so it does not make princesses fall in love with whomever they touch, but rather makes them hornier than a hoot owl. But can Felix live – err – up to it? Even a young man needs to recoup. I remember a line by comedian David Brenner saying that after once, for him it was something like trying to chop down a tree with an overcooked asparagus. How much of a good thing is too much?

Anyway, what this means for the viewer is that there is plenty of onscreen (softcore) sex and full nudity of both men and women. Sure, this is a male’s fantasy, they make an emphasis about that, and there is even an anti-Feminist nod in the scroll at the bottom of a news report, but I will say that this is pandering to the male audience rather than trying to make a huge political comment about the role of sex. I would have liked to see what would happen if Felix touched a gay man, to see if it would affect that way as well. The film is reminiscent of sex comedies that were popular in mostly art houses and Times Square in the late 1960s and ‘70s, such as The Erotic Adventures of Robin Hood (1969) and Alice in Wonderland: An Adult Musical Fantasy (1976; the latter softcore version played at a neighborhood theater in which I was an usher).

Noémi Domokos

As the names of the actors may hint at, this is a European production (Germany, I believe), though filmed in crisp English for those who struggle with accents. 

It is smartly filmed, even initially with characters who have not yet met move in and out around each other as the story progresses and they keep passing or literally bumping into each other. But of course, by the end, all will converge, with the evil attempting to persuade the poor Felix.

The acting is kind of goofy, but again, this is an extremely broad comedy with a really low moral bar, and the over-emoting belies that, but it is also very funny in parts, with Rău being the oddest character with the best lines, and his reading of his “cult” speech is definitely a highlight of the film, reminiscent of the “Spanish Inquisition” bit from, again, Monty Python. Wilson is actually spot on in his character, as a squeaky mouse that finds his teeth. The Ron/boss character reminds me a lot of the similar Gary Cole role in Office Space (1999).

While mostly it is comedy and nekkidity, there is also surprisingly a body count (albeit relatively small), and some unexpected gore. It made me smile.

Cayton Nemrow

One of the interesting aspects of this film is that there is no real love interest for Felix, just an object of lust in Sarah. Usually, there’s a secondary or friend character who, at the end, becomes the heroine of the piece, and I find that truly different and admirable. Also, I enjoyed the O. Henry-ish surprise at the end.

There is an extremely large cast of extras here, which is also commendable. While ridiculous, it doesn’t fall into the sheer stupidity trap of the likes of some of the sex comedies from the States, like the Porky’s series or the those with Seth Rogan (sorry, but I am not a fan); perhaps it’s the European sensibilities.

Sure, parts of this are pure goof, but there is an undercurrent of smartness, a relish of skewering topics, and a joyousness in its total abandon. Add some decent filmmaking, and this is definitely watchable, especially for a first-time feature director. Honestly, though, I would not consider it a date movie as it is the antithesis of the Hallmark Channel fare, but rather along the lines of the old Cinemax Channel.