Manny & Lo

One of Scarlett Johansson's early roles was this indie about a pair of orphaned sisters. Lisa Krueger's "Manny & Lo" is simultaneously intense, funny, disturbing and all-around enjoyable. Johansson and co-stars Aleksa Palladino (who more recently appeared in "The Irishman") and Mary Kay Place make it work every step of the way. Definitely check it out.

I thought Manny and Lo was an enjoyable and fun movie. It quite had profanity in some scenes. So it is not a great recommendation for children. Probably, it could be for 14 and up. It is not surprising to see that movie draw some criticism from some men about not many male characters in this movie. Well... obviously, some movies are made for female audience while men have plenty million movies that are made for male audience. So it would be nice to see more predominately female movies. At least this movie was not man-bashing. It was all about two homeless sisters who were on a journey and seek a loving home or place to settle for the baby. Despite their wrongdoings or flaws, I still loved the special relationship between two sisters. They truly cared and protect each other. They willing to die for each other.

I never thought I genuinely enjoyed Scarlett johansson's 11 year old witty and clever character. Never knew she did do fantastic job as a child. I grew up watching her acting performance as a teenager and adult. I still love her acting especially in Marvel movies. Not just the storyline, I believe Manny or the sisters' bond was a main reason I kept watching the entire movie. It was interesting to see how they slowly built trust and relationship with Elaine throughout the movie. So I thought it was a superb movie.

To be frank, it is not fair for some predominately female movies to be dragged down for not having a lot of male actors but predominately male movies still hold high despite no or a few female characters. It appalled me when Sean Connery and his old Jame Bond movies displayed some misogyny and other male movies sexually objectified women receive high ratings while female movies usually address some taboo topics or have fun/silly storylines or create female superheroes that save the entire world without male bashings or unnecessary nudes have low ratings which it should be high rating anyway. But again, this is still a patriarchal world where some men only like some movies if it shows nude and submission of women in the movies while men stay "superior" or "dominant". Sad...

I had a hunch that I wanted to revisit this film. On my first watch, I found Manny & Lo to be a moody little film, that weightlessly flew over me. But I think I missed some of its heft, because this subdued drama has more teeth and claws than I remember. Little, fun details are littered throughout the film, a clear display of Krueger's creative vision. Some might criticize the movie for having little entertainment value, but I disagree - you might not be paying attention. Or you might actually not like it, of course.

The premise is uncommon and maybe even odd, but easy to grasp; sisters Amanda and Laurel, more commonly known as Manny & Lo, are in their teens and have run from ther respective foster homes. They live a life on the road, roaming New Jersey, passing the nights in parks, on lawns, in model homes or whatever is most suited and readily available, coming by by stealing from the grocery stores, the older sister, Laurel, performing certain favours for boys in exchange for money, and fueling their station wagon with the use of a hose and other cars; in short, they're little rascals. But Manny is the first to notice something that will be a bump in their careless demeanours, litterally: Lo is pregnant, and she's far beyond the option of abortion. So, what else to do than to break into a huge country mansion, abduct a poor woman who works at a baby shop and keep her hostage there?

The leading trio is just terrific. I think Scarlett Johansson, Aleksa Palladino and Mary Kay Place as Manny, Lo and Elaine (the latter being the abducted "nurse") have a tough job together to keep this character drama afloat. I believe they succeeded. The then eleven-year old Scarlett gets to do the voice-over, and the movie is always from her perspective. But from the first few moments of the movie, when you hear that voice-over musing about made-up people that turn out to be real, I was already checked in. Even back then she had her signature scrappy voice (albeit younger, and less voluminous), and it is used to its fullest extent. Watching her childish expressions is simply delightful. I think she does a finer acting job in this movie than her foul-mouthed counterpart Lo. However, Aleksa still manages to convince the upset with the world; her character is volatile and holds that sense of unpredictability well. Lo might be the older of the two, Manny is certainly a lot more rational. This is proven in many scenes between Manny and Elaine, played wonderfully by Mary Kay Place. She has a strange character to handle, but who is essentially the third wheel that gets them rolling. As Elaine explains, the character has a "cluttered" past, and without ever exactly knowing what that entails Place plays it so that we don't have to know and understand anyway that Elaine has had suffering.

It is all underlined by an amazing soundtrack, quite clearly one of the aspects that flew over unnoticed by me the first time around. Composed by John Lurie, who has provided music for multiple of Jim Jarmusch' features, it is often simple, laid-back, perfect for the accompanying moments, but it also broadens at points, using a wider range of instruments to create a more eclectic sound. I was impressed by how much I loved the soundtrack.

For a comedy, though, there are suprisingly little laughs, which is not necessarily a bad thing because genres should never dictate the contents of a movie alone. But if the dialogue had been more sharply written, it might have gotten more out of me. Still, I laughed a couple of times, and I can't even start to count how many smiles it gave me. Less laughs than there ought to be, and despite its short runtime it is not always aptly paced, but those are little complaints.

To sum it up, I am happily impressed by the love and care that has been put into it. There is lots to read into - morals, parenthood, childhood, it may even contain life lessons for those willing to get that out of it, but I think it works because it never forgets that its essence lays in the three characters and their dynamic together, which is well-done. Not perfect, but a lovely movie anyhow.

"Manny & Lo" tells of two runaway girls and the how they deal with the challenges which arise when one gets pregnant. What this film lacks in big budget blockbuster appurtenances it more than makes up for with it's creative and unpredictable story, depth of character, raw charm, tongue-in-cheek humor, and insightful sensitivity. A wonderful little "sleeper" which necessarily starts slow and builds delivering pound-for-pound much more than films with many times the hype and box office. Most likely to be appreciated by females and more mature males.

Laurel (Aleksa Palladino) is 16 year old Lo. Amanda (Scarlett Johansson) is her 11 year old sister Manny. The sisters run away from their separate foster parents. They steal gas and food. They break into empty houses. They get by until Lo has to finally admit that she's not fat, she's pregnant. They squat in an off-season ski cabin. They kidnap baby-store saleswoman Elaine (Mary Kay Place) to help them with the birth.

The story is fine for an indie. The dialog isn't anything great. This is all about the two young actresses. ScarJo is lovely in one of her early roles. She seems to always have that raspy voice. Palladino is great. They have really good sisterly chemistry. The movie could be a little sharper with the comedy and dialog. Overall, it's a fun indie with those great young actresses.