"Loosies," With Peter Facinelli - Review - NYTimes.com There are a couple of movies, or rather a couple of story ideas, tucked in "Loosies," an amorphous, laugh-flecked drama about a New York City pickpocket that mostly comes across as a feature-length advertisement for its likable star and writer, Peter Facinelli. A pretty man with an easy grin, Mr. Facinelli has a leading man's looks if not the presence or credits, and is best known these days for standing around stiffly as Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the forever young paterfamilias of the vampire brood in the "Twilight" flicks. He was infinitely better in the 2007 season of the cable show "Damages," where he was actually given a character to work with, one whose appeal was tinged with menace. There's little shading to Bobby, alas, who zips around Manhattan lifting wallets, cellphones and watches. Bobby comes with a bit of mystery, though mostly just a back story that emerges between some domestic-comedy buffoonery with his mother, Rita (Marianne Leone), and far too much romantic-comedy busyness with Lucy (Jaimie Alexander), a one-night stand turned major subplot. When Bobby is with his mother in their humble apartment, swatting at a mouse with a broom or taking a punch from his mother's squeeze (Joe Pantoliano), he seems to be in a movie about a working-class regular guy trying to get by. When he's with Lucy, it's as if that movie had been interrupted by a commercial for eHarmony, complete with a montage sequence (long walks, handholding, sunrise). The director, Michael Corrente, whose films include "Federal Hill" and "Brooklyn Rules," is most comfortable nosing around the edges of this one, particularly in scenes featuring the fine supporting cast. Somewhere along the way, Bobby swipes a badge belonging to Lt. Nick Sullivan (Michael Madsen), a hothead (what else?) with an amiably forgiving boss, Capt. Tom Edwards (William Forsythe). Sullivan wants his badge back, which is how he ends up chasing after Bobby. Mr. Madsen and Mr. Forsythe, who hang on each other like a couple of battle-fatigued old boxers - in their best moment their characters just throw back a couple of drinks at a bar - are in a tonally different, shaggier, more enjoyable movie than Mr. Facinelli and Ms. Alexander. Vincent Gallo, meanwhile, is somewhere else, though it can be hard to know precisely where that is. He plays Jax, Bobby's mercurial, ill-tempered employer and sometime confessor, a kind of Fagin in red bathrobe and slippers. A low-level gangster, Jax operates out of an atmospheric dump crammed with boosted goods and occupied by a silent, much younger companion, Donny (Eric Phillips). Jax has a history with Bobby that's explained, if vaguely, in one of the movie's various flashbacks. When Bobby appears in that dusty, cramped room with Jax, you see a hint of what "Loosies" could have been, a tough little number where the edges were left ragged, the smiles died instead of bloomed, and the love interest was a woman rather than a girl who's more Katherine Heigl than real. "Loosies" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has theft, some violence and adult language. Directed by Michael Corrente; written by Peter Facinelli; director of photography, Sam Oliver Fleischner; edited by Daniel Boneville; music by Chad Fischer; production design by Robert Rotondo; produced by Chad A. Verdi, Mr. Facinelli, Noah Kraft and Glenn Ciano; released by IFC Films. Running time: 1 hour 28 minutes. WITH: Peter Facinelli (Bobby), Jaimie Alexander (Lucy), Michael Madsen (Lt. Nick Sullivan), Vincent Gallo (Jax), William Forsythe (Capt. Tom Edwards), Marianne Leone (Rita), Christy Romano (Carmen) and Joe Pantoliano (Carl).