Manny and Lo are two females on the run from the law, constantly on the move, committing crimes as they go.  Though it sounds like an imitation of Thelma and Louise, nothing could be further from the truth.  Manny and Lo is it's own movie.

Eleven year old Amanda (Scarlett Johansson) and sixteen year old Laurel (Aleksa Palladino) are runaway sisters.  They fled from their foster homes soon after their alcoholic, drug addict mother died.  Driving in an old station wagon, the two girls live by their wits.  Stealing food, sleeping in model homes or parks, and siphoning gas is what it takes for them to get by.  They are getting along fairly well, until Laurel can no longer deny the fact that she is pregnant.  Much too late to have an abortion, the two sisters find someone's vacation cabin in the woods and decide to hole up there until the baby comes.  Fearful that she will be arrested if she goes to the hospital, and afraid that she will die if she has the baby by herself, Lo comes up with a plan:  They'll kidnap the clerk (Elaine, played by Mary Kay Place) at a nearby maternity store who seems to know a lot about babies, so that she can help with the delivery.

An interesting movie from first time writer/director Lisa Krueger.  The film has several themes, the strongest of which is how people see themselves, and how their ego influences that self identity.  Lo sees herself and her sister as wanted criminals, who the police are constantly searching for.  Elaine sees herself as an important person in her community and the lives of those around her.  Though these perceptions have little bearing on reality, they are the driving force for these people's actions.  Lo needs to be tough and distant.  Elaine is more worried about who her abduction is going to effect her employer than her personal safety.  It is the examination of this fault, and the overcoming of it, that gives the movie its heart.

There are other topics that are examined too, the need for a mother figure, the yearning to be taken care of, and the fear of child birth.  Krueger does an excellent job of weaving all these themes together without turning them into a tangled mess.

The acting was good throughout.  Aleksa Palladino did a good job as the street smart Lo who deep down is scared and worried.  Place was convincing as the spinster Elaine, but Scarlett Johansson stole the show as the young Amanda.  Johansson was able to breath life into her character and it is astounding that such a young actress was able to do such a good job.  She had a maturity well beyond her years.

The writing and direction, while not outstanding, was very solid.  While Krueger's direction was a little hackneyed in places (linking the last images of the film with the first,) she didn't fall into the trap of trying to have striking camera work in every scene, which is distracting.  She was able to tell her story in an effective, efficient manner that suited the material.  The script itself had some thoughtful moments, and was impressive in the fact that it didn't try to do too much.  There is a lot of background information that is hinted at, but never explored, and that is to the writer's credit.  Krueger realized that her audience would be able to piece things together without having everything spelled out.  By doing that, she was able focus on the story she wanted to tell, without having a lot of extraneous clutter in the script.

This movie is presented in Dolby stereo.  There are no subtitles available.  There wasn't much use made of the sound stage, but the audio track was clear and intelligible.  Very adequate for a movie without many sound effects.  The music by John Lurie (of Fishing with John fame) was very appropriate and soothing.

Video:

The movie is in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is anamorphically enhanced.  The picture quality was standard.  There were occasional minor video dropouts and imperfections, but they did not distract from the movie.  There was a good deal of digital artifacts, possibly inherent in the master.  Details for items in the background were lost with diagonal lines having a star step effect and close parallel lines running together.  The colors seemed a little muted, but that could have been the director's intention.

The Extras:

This is a bare bones disc.  The only extras are three trailers for All the Real Girls, Masked and Anonymous, and My Life Without Me.  I was surprised and disappointed that they didn't include a trailer for Manny and Lo itself.

Final Thoughts:

Manny and Lo is a movie that is geared towards women.  The story of these three women bonding over the unborn child one of them is carrying is something that will resonate more strongly with females.  Though it was a tad predictable in places, the realistic characters, authentic dialog, and unique situations were enough to overlook that flaw.  Recommended.