‘Loosies’ features Peter Facinelli as a man on the run from everyone

Peter Facinelli, best known for his work in the Twilight series, recently penned the script for Loosies, a new caper directed by Michael Corrente and starring Facinelli himself. The 89-minute feature, recently released on DVD, is a smart thriller that finds a nice balance between pulsating action and low-key humor. It’s not perfect and the plot eventually devolves into a formulaic structure, but Loosies still stands as that rare cinematic find: A movie with a brain.

Facinelli plays Bobby, an expert pickpocket who steals money and prized possessions for his crime boss, Jax (Vincent Gallo). Bobby is good at the con game, but he doesn’t care for the life. Most of his proceeds end up in Jax’s hands, and after he steals a police officer’s badge, he needs to constantly look over his shoulder and stay one step ahead of the detectives. Bobby inherited the pickpocketing from his father, who left an outstanding gambling debt after he died. No matter what Bobby thinks about the pickpocketing life, in his mind, he’s unable to get out of the game.

A side plot involves Lucy (Jaime Alexander), a bartender who finds out that her one-night stand with Bobby three months ago has left her pregnant. She tracks down so-called “Wall Street executive,” hoping to find a sympathetic man who can help with the baby on the way.

As the police inch closer, as Jax loses his patience and as Lucy starts demanding answers, Bobby begins to lose his grip on everything in life. Wherever he turns, problems abound.

The movie features spot-on supporting work from Michael Madsen (the detective who lost his badge), Joe Pantoliano and Christy Carlson Romano. Gallo is passably good as the deadbeat middle man who runs Bobby’s pickpocketing.

The problem is Facinelli and Alexander, who can never muster enough chemistry to have the audience believe in their relationship. They never seem to fit together. Yet, Bobby and Lucy grow closer and closer, even though they seem like polar opposites. They’re tied by the pregnancy, but their love feels like an underdeveloped storyline.

Corrente directs the movie at a breakneck speed, and he achieves a lot of great energy among his cast members. It’s no wonder he directed the cinematic adaptation of David Mamet’s American Buffalo. Loosies, in many ways, feels like “Mamet lite,” as if we’re watching a rough draft of a much better caper movie that will one day materialize. It’s not that Facinelli’s script doesn’t work, because it does and then some. The problem is that it can never elevate beyond its story and have us care for these characters. As portrayed on screen, Bobby and company are fairly uninteresting, despite their dire circumstances. I believe in this story, but I don’t necessarily believe in the characters who bring it to life.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Loosies

• 2012

• Directed by Michael Corrente

• Written by Peter Facinelli

• Starring Facinelli, Jaime Alexander, Michael Madsen, Joe Pantoliano, Vincent Gallo, William Forsythe and Christy Carlson Romano

• Running time: 89 minutes

• Rated PG-13 for some violence, sexual content and language

• Rating: