Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 140

Chicago Tribune, Friday. September 10, 1993 Section 7 Friday 4 Siskel's Flicks Picks By Gene Siskel 1I Jte 'King of the Hill' is atop the heap of year's best films ur Flick of the Week is Steven Soderbergh's "King of the Hill, a magnificent piece of episodic filmmaking that builds a mosaic of lives truly at risk in the At its center, this is a ce of A.E. Hotchner of growing up poor in a St Louis hotel room with his younger brother, ill mother and stern father. Young Aaron Kurlander (12-year-old Jesse Bradford in a rich performance that deserves Oscar consideration) will end up on his own as his brother is sent to relatives to save on living expenses, his mother is confined to a clinic for tuberculosis, and his dad hits the road as a door-to-door watch salesman. Director Soderbergh, so hot after "sex, lies, and videotape" and so cold after "Kafka," re-establishes himself as a major talent without genre limits.

In the very smallest scene he can make a game of marbles seem almost as exciting as that train wreck in "The Fugitive." Quite simply, "King of the Hill" is one of the year's best movies, a family story that will challenge both adults and older children. "King of the Hill" is playing only at the Fine Arts Theater. Rated PG-13. Suzy Amis and Ian McKellen In "The Ballad of Uttle Jo," the story of a woman who poses as a man. 'Ballad of Little Jo' puts new spin on an old genre Flicks Picks guide t' Movie review Clifford Terry The Ballad of little Jo" Directed and written by Maggie Greenwald; photographed by Dedan Quint production designed by Mark Friedberg; edited by Keith Reamer; music by David Mansltetd; produced by Fred Bemer and Brenda Goodman.

A Fine Una release; opens Friday at the Water Tower and outlying theaters. Running time-. 2:00. MPAA rating; R. Some violence, strong language, sexual situations, nudity.

THE CAST Uttle Jo Monaghan Suzy Amis Frank Badger Bo Hopkins Tinman Wong David Chung Percy Corcoran Ian McKellen Ruth Badger Carrie Snodgress MaryAddie Heather Graham Straight Hollander Rene Auberjonois JasperHi veals that Josephine had had a baby out of wedlock, and, disgraced and disowned, handed the child over to her sister and lit out as they used to say, for, the land beyond the Mississippi Lowering her voice, she slips into her new persona. It's an unlikely transformation, but the miners fall for it initially dismissing "Little Jo" as some effete dude. Aided by a miso-gynous minermentor (British Shakespearean actor Ian McKellen), she eventually finds work as a sheepherder for rancher Frank Badger (nicely played by "Bo Hopkins). This puts her out by herself all alone during the winter and serves as a slick plot device to keep her away from the nosy folks in town. Still, this kinder, gentle western centers on whether the un failingly polite Jo will be uncovered, so to speak, as JoseDhine.

The men. sDecifical wonder. why taibra'aritf; 'generally; find Hhiff child story, the reminiscen and jumps and bumps. Did I mention slides? John Uthgow Is a laughable villain, which only makes the mountain scenery that much more Impressive. But you don't go to a picture tike this to stare at mountains.

R. DAVE (outtyirtf. "Dave" is a genial comedy about how an Everyman does a bet- ter Job as president than the elected chief executive. In other words, this is the film fantasy version of "What if Perot had been a nice guy?" Kevin Kline has a double role, playing both a nasty, post-Ointon president who delights in cutting aid to the poor as wen as a mild-mannered employment counselor who makes a tew extra bucks as a celebrity impersonator of the self-same president. Spotted by a Secret Service agent, he's hired to double for the commander-in-chief.

And when the president suffers a stroke in the throes of an affair, the wicked chief of staff (Frank Langella as a juicy) concocts a scheme to stick the sick president in a White House basement and control the Oval Office with the patsy under his thumb. What about the First Lady, you say. Well, she (Sigoumey Weaver) hates her cheating husband they live in separate bedrooms and ultimately she becomes attached to the new guy. PG-13. wwwVi DENNIS THE MENACE (outlying).

Walter Matthau is absolutely wonderful as the constantly tormented neighbor, Mr. Wilson, in this film adaptation of the popular comic strip and TV show. And although little Mason Gamble may not be another Macauley Cuikln, he's fine as innocently troublesome Dennis. But the movie loses track of Its energy during a labored, 10-minute sequence with Dennis combatting a thief. What would have been better more scenes of tenderness between Dennis and Mr.

Wilson. PG. THE FIRM (Webster Mace and outlying). Sydney Pollack adapts John Grisham's cautionary '80s novel about a young lawyer who sells his soul to a devilish law firm but It's Tom Cruise's show aH the way. Cruise joins a paternalistic Memphis law Arm but begins regretting the situation after he realizes that the only way anyone ever leaves the firm is by dying young.

Trying to find out what's going on forces Cruise to. becomes more of a detective than a lawyer, and the result is a thriller in which he finds himself trying to tap-. dance between the federal government and his colleagues. Pollack Invariably surrounds his leading man-wim top-night dour bqy "quite peculiar." At one point Badger asks, "Don't you ever have any fun?" But Jo has staying power, and eventually settles down on her own homestead, learning to fend for herself as the consummate independent love it out there alone," she declares even as she longs for her child back East She also is gradually accepted as a "free white man," even facing the prospect of voting in an election. Initially, Amis (one of Albert Finney's daughters in "Rich in seems inadequate to handle such a complex role, but, like the movie itself, picks it up this occurs after Jo saves the life of a racially reviled Chinese railroad worker (David Chung) and the two outsiders become lovers in a series of moving sequences.

Declan Quinn's cinematography is often quite striking it was filmed in the hills of southern Montana and Greenwald's direction, as a whole, is intelligent as she explores gender roles and assumptions. Her uneven screenplay, though, slogs along for much of the and resorts to a hoary storyline ploy by bringing on greedy cattle speculators who buy up land and kill off people. There have been other westerns involving women as protagonists, of course scrappy Barbara Stanwyck in "Cattle Queen of Montana" and "The Maverick Queen," Marlene Dietrich in the cultish "Rancho Notorious," Jane Fonda in the farcical "Cat Ballou" come to ETTa he Ballad of Little Jo," a curious piece II of fictional I I filmmaking "inspired by real in effect, a cross-dressing western. But whoa. It is, in its way, surprisingly effective, one of those rare movies that gathers strength as it progresses.

Not that it is entirely a success. Its first hour is stolid and tedious, drifting along like the tum-bleweed. Written and directed by Mag gie Greenwald, it is the story of Josephine Monaghan (Suzy Amis), an Eastern socialite first seen in 1866 walking along a dusty road out West encountering a grizzled, itinerant peddler (Rene Auberjonois in a cameo), who immediately labels her a "female vagrant" She proceeds to sell one of his second-hand chairs and read him Hawthorne; he, in turn, furtively sells her to a pair of scruffy soldiers. Escaping from her prospective owners, she heads toward a mining camp, Ruby City, which has pretensions of being a town, and decides against buying dress material (there are no ready-mades available). Instead, she opts for men's clothing, despite the admonition of the female proprietor who warns her, "It's against the law to dress improper for your But Josephine realizes a woman in the West is no better off than a horse make that a mule and decides to disguise herself as a man.

Shortening her hair as well as her name, Jo uses a razor- tjt effect a decidedly-sin; rcew.srar on rr, 1 Meanwhile tr flasnbackrev New this week ALADDIN (outlying). A better title for the latest Disney animated musical would be "Genie," because Robin Williams steals the show as the dude in the lamp with the wishes. Chaning Into more than 60 characters from Aresenio to Ed Sut-Kvarv the genie Is a major hoot as he helps a uyoung street beggar turn Into a prince and many an embattled princess. The two young lovers aren's anything special, but their Arabian adventure has its pleasures, including a wisecracking parrot (voice by Gilbert Gottfried) percheo on the shoulder of an evil king's adviser and a flying carpet with tassels tor amis and legs. The songs aren' quite at the level with those in "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast," bu this is still a major achievement that ought to please parents and adults.

G. THE BALLAD OF LITTLE JO (Water Tower). A modem tale of sexual role playing set the Old West with a society woman (actress-model Suzy Amis) trying to pass as a man In order to hide from having been sold Into servitude. She winds up giving away her secret to a Chinese laborer who is forced to act like a neutered "coolie" order to Keep his head above water the sexist, racist Old West. Although Amis Isn't convincing as a man, the story still holds some power.

R. BOXING HELENA (Water Tower and outlying). Not as worthless as you may have heard. Admittedly bizarre, It's the story of a sexually retarded surgeon who severs a beautiful woman's limbs in order to control her after she rejects his advances. It's aort of a more sexually frank version of "Misery," and the imagery is an attempt to portray the condition of a lot of male-female relationships.

Julian Sands Is creepy as the doctor, and Sherityn Fenn has the thankless role as the love object, role declined by Madonna and Kim Basinger. R. -www CUFFHANQER (Village and outlying). i Take sway the mountains and what you have Is a howlingly bad action turn with a comball villain out to steal a massive amount of United States currency from federal agents. Out to save the dough and assorted lives is mountain rescue ace Sylvester Stallone, who has been In retirement ever since he incorrectly believed he was responsible for falling to save the life of a trapped climber.

Typical of the stupidity here Is that we can plainly see he wasn't at fault in the fHm's opening scene, later we're treated to assorted, predictable slip and trips "rnindbut ThVBaHaa'of Jo'j ertaihiy fspne of trie most uncdhveritionai'4 i 1 1.