Movies

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.

Facinelli has a leading man's looks if not the presence or credits, and is best known for standing around stiffly as Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the 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.

There's little shading to Bobby, alas, who zips around 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, hand-holding, sunrise).

Somewhere along the way, Bobby swipes a badge belonging to Lt. Nick Sullivan (Michael Madsen). Sullivan wants his badge back, which is how he ends up chasing after Bobby.

Vincent Gallo plays Jax, Bobby's employer, a low-level gangster who operates out of an atmospheric dump crammed with boosted goods. 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.