`TOUCH' DESERVES A BIG HAND FOR ITS OFFBEAT ORIGINALITY.

Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Film Critic

Tom Arnold and Christopher Walken facing each other in the same movie? To the connoisseur, this should be your first clue that ``Touch'' is a venture brimming with the sly and unexpected.

The second is that the intense and arid filmmaker Paul Schrader (``Patty Hearst'' ``The Comfort of Strangers'') has taken on material by the colorful satirist Elmore Leonard.

What can be the outcome of this intriguing mix? Sheer delight, as it happens. Schrader brings exactly the right ironic ``touch'' to the 1987 book, the first adaptation of Leonard's material since ``Get Shorty.'' In giving proven talents a rare chance to take things in an unconventional direction, the producers come up with an offbeat gem.

``Touch'' has spiritual elements, but it's basically a satire about the collision of the crass and the sacred in contemporary culture.

A young social worker called Juvenal (Skeet Ulrich) is found to have extraordinary healing powers, which brings him unsought attention from a cavalcade of small-time hustlers who seek to exploit him.

Quiet and unassuming, Juvenal has been performing small miracles at the alcohol rehab center where he works. His legend heats up when he lays his hands on a young cancer patient during a religious service. Christ-like wounds open in Juvenal's hands, and the boy (Theo Greenly) is cured.

The sly, sideways comedy lies in the difference between Juvenal's good-natured lack of agenda and the schemes of those who surround him.

Juvenal has a gift, but no ambition except to use it; perhaps it's his lack of ego that makes him a channel for higher forces. The others have plenty of ambition, but no particular talent except for hucksterism.

Christopher Walken is dryly hilarious as a mobile-home salesman, Bill Hill, who hires a part-time record promoter, Lynn (Bridget Fonda) to pose as an alcoholic and get the scoop on Juvenal. Juvenal sees right through her, and Lynn quickly abandons the ruse and falls in love with him.

Tom Arnold plays August Murray, a right-wing fanatic in a modified marching-band uniform who is Bill Hill's chief opponent for a monopoly on Juvenal. (Arnold, who plays Murray as a big, self-serious overgrown geek who probably hasn't changed since the seventh grade, is amazingly effective in the role).

All the actors bring memorable life to Leonard's typical cavalcade of vulgarians; Lolita Davidovich is a real kick as the salty-tongued stripper mom of the cancer patient, and Paul Mazursky is deadly funny as the music-business hustler who takes a shine to her.

Like ``Pulp Fiction,'' with which it shares a production designer (David Wasco) and some visual panache, ``Touch'' is a kind of contemporary comedy of manners in which most of the pleasure comes from the way the characters talk and the unexpected twists of mind that dictate their behavior.

Walken, needless to say, is a master at delivering this patter, but the supporting players here are all able apprentices. A scene set at a table in a strip bar, in which the indignant August (Arnold) must hold his own against the other crassmeisters, is a classic.

Schrader's casting instincts are first-rate, and for the most part, his dry, measured touch is perfect for the kind of comedy Leonard sets up here.

But ``Touch'' has its flaws.

A major development - when Juvenal abandons Lynn over a doctored photograph, seems unconvincing - and ``Touch'' takes a convenient powder with its noncommittal ending.

Still, it provides a rare degree of unconventional enjoyment along the way.

Needless to say, it wasn't a major studio that put its money behind this risk-taking venture, though MGM/UA has since acquired it for distribution. It was Paris-based producer Lila Cazes (``Leaving Las Vegas'') who financed it entirely herself.

Cazes, one of the rare artist-friendly producers, has experienced hit-and-miss results, but ``Touch'' goes in the plus column, alongside ``Leaving Las Vegas'' and ``Fresh.''

THE FACTS

The film: ``Touch'' (R; language, sexual situations, partial nudity).

The stars: Skeet Ulrich, Bridget Fonda, Christopher Walken, Tom Arnold, Lolita Davidovich, Janeane Garofalo and Paul Mazursky.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Paul Schrader, based on the novel by Elmore Leonard. Produced by Lila Cazes and Fida Attieh. Released by MGM/UA.

Running time: One hour, 37 minutes.

Playing: Universal Cineplex, Universal City; Cineplex Odeon, Beverly Center; AMC Century 14, Century City; AMC Santa Monica 7, Santa Monica.

Our rating: Three Stars.