Loosies - Liebe ist kein Verbrechen

The plot: While paying off his father's debt, a skilled pickpocket finds his life turned upside down when his mother reveals that she's moving in with her new boyfriend, a cop with a vendetta closes in on him, and a one-night-stand reveals that she's pregnant with his child.

Loosies is a pretty harmless movie. It's set in a world where people fall in love with strangers quickly and easily, characters find redemption effortlessly, and everyone's problems are neatly resolved. As long as you're willing to accept that, I see no reason why you can't enjoy this movie.

If you're looking for a gritty, realistic crime drama, there are plenty of movies like that (Scorsese and Coppola have done quite a few good ones). If you're looking for a somewhat whimsical movie that blends elements of romance, drama, heist, and action, then you could do much worse. It'll never be my favorite movie, but I think the critics were a bit too harsh.

This is a Comedy/Drama/Romance Movie, that is, a "chick flick." I'm not generally into chick flicks, but I watched it anyway, intrigued by the fact that it was written, as well as starred in, by Peter Facinelli, the head vampire in Twilight.

Having watched it once, I watched it again a couple months later... and then I recommended it to my adult daughter, who is into chick flicks, and we watched it together. And you know what, I will likely watch it again sometime. Yes, I feel it is that good. In fact, any project with Facinelli's name attached to it will garner my immediate attention from now on.

Since he wrote it, I guess he knew exactly how he wanted to play the guy who has yet another in a long series of one night stands. The woman is played by Jaimie Alexander, and he is unusually fascinated by her (that's almost a pun). He struggles with leaving her his contact number, but can't decide yes or no...

Well, he seems to forget the encounter, but then she suddenly shows up to tell him she's pregnant with his child. She reminds him her name is Lucy (another almost pun). He is a pick pocket who has no kind of life style for anything but consequence free living. Actually, he is a pick pocket slaved to the man who his father owed a significant monetary debt to, so I guess he's not actually so free living.

Anyway, the depth of the movie is what all happens next. No spoilers here so all I will say is that if you watch it, you will likely not be disappointed.

This action movie junkie (and his daughter) rate this as a movie well worth a watch or three.

I didn't know a thing about this movie other than its less-than-inspiring IMDb plot synopsis but I watched it anyway just because I had a sleepless night to kill. 88 minutes later I felt like I had just watched a modern classic.

First of all, who would've guessed that prettyboy Peter Facinelli ("Twilight") could write such a clever story as well as act it to perfection? Here we have a crime-drama-romance that can be every bit as chilling as Scorcese's "Goodfellas" (1990), every bit as human as De Sica's "Bicycle Thieves" (1948), every bit as romantic as Reiner's "When Harry Met Sally" (1989) and with an ending as unexpected as "The Usual Suspects" (1995), all wrapped up in a superbly acted & directed hour and a half.

The plot cannot be properly conveyed in less than 500 words so I won't bother trying. Let's just say it has to do with a small-time crook who gets in big-time trouble while simultaneously meeting his dream girl and royally screwing that up, too. But he's a good kid who loves his momma and is the most ethical crook since Robin Hood, so we can't help but love the guy. Unfortunately there are several psychos on his tail, and when I say psychos I mean psy-CHOs.

I didn't realize beforehand that two of my favorite actors were in this film: Joe Pantoliano (whom I'll always remember as "Doc" from "Eddie & the Cruisers", but you may know him as "Ralph" on "The Sopranos") and the incomparable Vincent Gallo ("Buffalo 66"). For you Gallo fans, he reprises a classic line from Buffalo 66: "All girls are evil!" which got a unanimous LOL from the room. I was sorta by myself, but that's beside the point.

Gallo actually plays one of the aforementioned psychos while the other psycho is played by a very disturbing Michael Madsen ("Reservoir Dogs"). They each play the type of character who could, at any minute, jab a pencil in someone's eye just because they don't like the way they look.

Balance this against Peter Facinelli's boyscout charm and Jaimie Alexander's sweet, wholesome demeanor, and who could overlook the brilliantly cast Marianne Leone (Joanne on "The Sopranos") as momma, and you have yourself the full spectrum of characters, making this a very unpredictable and consequently a very tense film.

I should add that it has a very cool soundtrack with music by bands I had never heard of, but I'll be looking them up. Particularly the film's theme song "Sing Out" by the Grand Magnolias.

I usually end my reviews with a list of similar films, but "Loosies" is truly one-of-a-kind. Don't miss it, if you know what's good for you.

half the population. Well actually, these idiots have always polluted the gene pool, but now they get to spread their ignorance around the world via the internet.

First of all, don't pay any attention to these bad "reviews," I seriously doubt these people actually watched this movie. For an independent, it was quite a surprise. Facinelli does a terrific job with the screenplay about a pickpocket trying to pay off his Father's $500,000 debt to scumbag Vincent Gallo. Along the way, he manages to lift a badge from Michael Madsen, who works for acknowledged superfreak William Forsythe (in a very subdued role) and then all hell breaks loose.

As our lead is being pursued by seemingly the entire NY City police force, his mom breaks bad with Joe Pantoliano, and he "accidentally" bumps into and falls in love with the beautiful, but recently impregnated, Jaimie Alexander, with whom he had a one night fling then apparently forgot about.

The writing is tight, the characters are well cast, there is humor, drama, intrigue, and romance, and this is Michael Madsen's best role since ... well since hell I cant remember... a long damn time.

Anybody that doesn't like this movie needs their heads examined. For its budget, a solid 9/10.

The first thing I noticed was the unique look of the Canon 5D camera. Expectedly there are some really nice cinematographic moments which are only possible with this camera setup.

The story gradually drags you in, and the photogenic actors and performances help a lot. It is not the typical "seen it all" Jennifer-Aniston kinda-romance type story and cliché, but rather a sexy written "bad-boy/good-girl got knocked up in a one night stand" kinda story.

The dialog is sexy and well written.

Most importantly the runtime is manageable.

Anyone who is sick of romance-movies in general, especially the usual, Clichè-spiced stew, should still check this movie out. Definitely above average.

Rating: 6 + 1 star for the camera setup and the cinematography. Looks beautiful. (Although the movie definitely doesn't set a benchmark for next-generation cameras)