L'amore non è un crimine

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.

The movie is about a young pickpocket. It's written right there, in the tagline. If you have watched any of the trailers, then you already know the story. Therefore if one is to enjoy the movie, that must come from funny moments, intelligent dialogue, exciting action or special effects, which in Loosies, are non-existent.

That doesn't mean the movie is bad, it just means it is certainly not good. I might consider it a story that was not interesting at all, but said right.

Bottom line: it has an indie flick feel, with all the fashionable songs in the soundtrack and the movie tricks to make things look more alert or to say a longer story from flashbacks. It's like somebody really wanted this to be good. Unfortunately the story of a pickpocket that finds love and it all works well for him because he has nice eyes is completely boring. Girls won't even like it.

Bobby Corelli (Peter Facinelli) is a pick pocket in NYC. Lt. Nick Sullivan (Michael Madsen) has become the butt of the joke after Bobby stole his badge and started using it. Jax (Vincent Gallo) is his fence. He runs into Lucy Atwood (Jaimie Alexander) who tells him that she's pregnant after their one night stand 3 months ago.

Peter Facinelli is great at being a weasel and he does a good job in Nurse Jackie. However he's not leading man material. He's good at being pathetic but he's not good at being a stand up guy. He comes off as whiny. The romance just doesn't work and his character is horrible. He's kind of cringe-worthy. It's scary to think about this character as a father.

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.

-- www.Ramascreen.com --

LOOSIES is surprisingly entertaining, I emphasize 'surprisingly' because the trailer didn't look appealing, there's nothing too creative about the direction or the performances either and the plot is pretty simple but overall it's a cute little rom-com written by Peter Facinelli who many of you Twi-hards recognize as Dr. Carlisle Cullen from The Twilight Saga franchise…

Who knew that Facinelli had it in him, this is after all his feature screen writing debut. I'm a big fan of his role in the series Nurse Jackie, I think he's got excellent comic timing. I've met Facinelli in person and I could tell that he's got more to offer than just being easy on the eyes and LOOSIES is not a bad start. In this film, he stars as a young pickpocket without a purpose, suddenly facing a dilemma that he couldn't see coming a mile away. The ever so cute Jaimie Alexander, who kicked ass as Sif in Thor, plays Lucy the girl whom with Facinelli's character, Bobby, had a one night stand. All of a sudden, Bobby's life gets even more complicated, way more than he'd like it to be. And the only person Bobby often turns to for advice is the same person who forces him to pickpocket day in and day out, it's a messed up friendship that has its expiration date. LOOSIES got a bit of gangster situation, it's got a bit of incompetent short-tempered cop situation, it's got a bit of a con man hilarity, the dialogue and the plot are very formulaic but the film is so not that heavy, you wouldn't mind the fact that the film hides in it being decent, no more no less. It's fun to see some of yesterday's big shots like Michael Madsen, William Forsythe, and Joe Pantoliano with something to do. For what it's worth, LOOSIES a well-structured script, I enjoy how Facinelli builds up and plays with the trust and the mistrust between Bobby and Lucy, that it's not easy to see the good in people who do shady things for a living but it's possible. LOOSIES has a straight to DVD quality to it but it's one movie I wouldn't mind watching more than once.

-- www.Ramascreen --