That was an excellent one.

Such a frustrating disappointment

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I think it could use some editing to speed the pace a bit. A pregnant teen and her younger sister run away from foster homes and kidnap a woman whom they believe can help with the pregnancy. This is the kind of low-budget film that truly proves that a small story can be much more meaningful than a larger one. This film is worthy of all the hopes you have as all of the characters struggle against a system that has perpetuated falsehoods. Are there annoying things in this movie? Yes, like the overdone acting. But the movie has enough to keep you entertained. For these reasons, I give this movie a rating of 7 out of 10.

Mary Kay Place, Scarlett Johansson and Aleksa Palladino star in this breakthrough drama entitled,Manny & Lo.This is debut feature from writer/director Lisa Krueger that tells the story of orphaned teen-aged sisters that are living on the run, stealing food, and sleeping in random model homes.Two sisters, 11-year-old Amanda,also known as Manny; and 16-year-old Laurel,nicknamed Lo, run away from several foster homes, sleeping wherever they can, including in model homes.Lo is the rude, bossy, incompetent leader, and younger sister Manny is her thoughtful, realistic, logical underling. It quickly becomes apparent that Lo is pregnant and they won't be able to continue their wandering lifestyle of "keep moving and you won't get nailed." After a significant stage of denial, Lo goes to a hospital for an abortion and is denied. Quickly running out of options, Lo comes up with plan that seems ridiculous to the observant narrator Manny. Since they don't know anything about birthing babies, they kidnap Elaine, a middle-aged woman dressed as a nurse who works in a maternity store. Together, the three women squat in an abandoned house in the woods so the disgruntled Lo can have her baby. Eventually, the owner of the house comes home and the captive Elaine resorts to a strange solution to the problem.This is an unapologetically small but wholly original movie, warm- hearted but not precious, and possessed of a gently wacky sensibility.Though employing no surreal devices and remaining within a realistic convention, Krueger takes the story of two young sisters on their own and somehow makes it seem unreal, strange, outside time.Also,it is a sweet little fable only a bit shy on substance but quite charming in the telling.Overall,it is a movie that will leave viewers with a warm glow.

MANNY & LO (2 outta 5 stars)Not a bad movie... just kind of pointless after all is said and done. Two orphaned sisters (one of them pregnant) take the family car and go on the road, trying to keep from getting separated and put into foster homes. Not knowing what to do about the baby on the way, the two young girls kidnap a woman who works in a maternity goods store and hide out in a secluded cabin in the woods. Eventually the three begin to bond emotionally. This would have been a perfect example of a "nice, family movie" except for all the profanity spewed by the older sister. The younger sister is played by a young Scarlett Johansson... who I think was a better actress at 12 years old than she is right now. (Oh, I'm just being mean... she's not bad now either.) Mary Kay Place plays the kidnapped baby expert. Aleska Palladino (who?) plays the older sister. Pretty entertaining story... it just tends to get a bit implausible at times.

This is the sweetest film. It's definitely a 'chick thing' with Manny and Lo and Elaine bonding around an infant to be (Lo's). No men are allowed in this paradise. One appears and he gets bopped over the head, gagged and hog-tied. This is a fem-family made on the run. Lo (Aleska Palladino) in her high teens runs away from a foster home with her younger sister, Manny (Scarlett Johansson). It's a Thelma and Louise crime spree made as a movie for children. Well, not quite. Turns out Lo's pregnant. She has been hiding this from 11-year-old Manny, who has the eye of Sherlock Holmes and is the brains of this team. They find a rather nice, used only during the ski season cabin in the woods and hole up to await the stork. They spot Elaine (Mary Kay Place), a lonely spinster working in a baby clothes shop and kidnap her to help deliver the baby. Everybody, despite gruff exteriors, has a heart of gold, and togetherness and loving concern prevail.And what's wrong with that?Nothing really. But I was thinking: this is the obverse of male war movies where none or few women appear, men doing their manly thing killing one another, women irrelevant. I think that's the key word here for director Lisa Kruege: in the reproductive game that is war by other means, men are irrelevant. Or almost so. In war it doesn't matter how many men are killed. As long as there are some left the population will quickly spring back. Kill the women, though, and you have a serious population problem. Manny and Lo and Elaine prove that you really don't need the male: his sperm will do, and that way you don't have to put up with his loutish behavior.I think I got this right. Anyway, it's a cute movie.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)