The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 67

Friday October 22 1 993 weekend 7 f9 -J I Sunday 1 -4pm I Monday-Thursday 4-7pm I Saturday 1 -4pm in the bar only coupon good thru 103193 it mi a '4 IKE Sy NBEffif For years people have said the only way to top our Saturday brunch was to offer it on Sunday After all where else can you get great food and great shopping CLICHE: Suzy Amis finds true love with David Chung but what does this tell us in this feminist rant? i $000 ACE take-out I 1 order Open 9am this Saturday for Take-out If An lei li i mm under one roofr Come try it Brunch until 2 Browse until 5 The I Stonehenge Market cjc fillO jroui ureeamoor Ma i vuuj weekend is complete Corner of 782-9227 Mon-Fri 10-6 Sat 9-6 Sun: Browse 11-5 Brunch 11-2 DILL STAFF WRITER I "SfSi I ra IS movie review mm I oor Josephine Monaghan nil ENJOY ONE OF THE HIGHEST THE BALLAD OF LITTLE JO Stars: Suzy Amis Bo Hopkins David Chung Director: Maggie Greenwald Theater: Raleigh: Studio FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT The Livizzaner Stallions are horses of nobility the ultimate expression of an art form which dates back to the 16th century These magnificent stallions perform acrobatic maneuvers that no other breed of horse can equal And now they are here for all to appreciate Don't miss this rare The WONDERFUL WORLD of HORSES ROYAL LIPIZZANER STALLION SHOW TUE NOV 23 7:30 PM WED NOV 24 4 7:30 PM GOV JAMES BHUNT JR HORSE COMPLEX chance to see them perform including their AIRS ABOVE NC STATE FAIRGROUNDS RALEIGH Twice wronged First she was the victim of 19th-century sexism forced to leave home after the birth of an illegitimate child and make her way out West disguised as a man But that was nothing compared to the posthumous mugging she's suffered at the hand of writer-director Maggie Greenwald in "The Ballad of Little Jo" a plodding feminist rant that would have been funny if it had been shorter Suzy Amis plays Josephine a pretty young woman from a bourgeois family who meets her first nasty man in the form of a casual lover a callow photographer who leaves her with child Second nas: ty man is her Daddy who banish- es her from the home (but oddly enough allows her sister to keep the baby) and forces Josephine to seek her fortune in the West Barely escaping rape at every 1 turn Josephine decides the only way to survive is to become one of the guys So she buys some nifty duds cuts her hair scars her face (for that chic wizened look) and proceeds to pan for rubies amid much male swine The sad thing about all this is that the real Monaghan (the story is based on an actual character) must have been a fascinating figure She was forced from a comfortable life lost her social status her identity and even her gender and still managed to make a life for herself This is a life of intrigue even exhilaration But "The Ballad of Little Jo" is nearly immobilized under a slathering of righteous indignation And Amis is dreadfully wooden as a woman she recites lines in a vacuous monotone As a man the monotone drops an octave and she learns not to look anyone in the eye The guys at the mining camp think "Little Jo" is weird We wonder why All the predictaMeYcerlesf airfe' TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT: THE GROUND They have after all been practicing for the last 400 years AT SELECT TRACKSRECORD BAR SOUND SHOP STARSHIP MUSIC MOVIES SOUNDS 8t VIDEO PLAZA CALL-FOR-TDC: (919) 834-4000 here Jo is challenged to prove his manhood and does so by showing the guys his socks No it didn't make much sense in the movie either And when a pathetic prostitute is paraded into the camp by an itinerant pimp Jo has to think fast to avoid the line that forms Actually it's several of the male characters who give "The Ballad of Little Jo" what interest it has to offer But even these guys wallow in cliches There's Frank Badger (Bo Hopkins) Jo's sheep-ranching neighbor Frank wants to think of himself as a nice guy a family man But darn that testosterone he just can't shake the urge to lynch someone every now and then Which brings us to Tinman Wong (David Chung) a Chinese railroad worker who is in the process of being strung up when he is saved by Jo who takes him in as a house worker Much to Tinman's delight he soon uncovers Jo's secret and they become lovers Their first lovemaking and the simple idyllic life they are briefly allowed to enjoy while working Jo's modest sheep ranch are tender evocative and moving: I And isn't it peculiar that this film with such a radically feminist tilt is interesting and credible only when it becomes a traditional love story? Greenwald may be inaklrig" more of statement than iheihWndedtoP sxwt -A ADULTS $1350 KIDS SENIORS SAVE $2 PER TICKET SPECIAL 4 PM MATINEE ALL SEATS $1050 (NO MATINEE DISCOUNTS) LIMITED VIR SEATS AVAILAtJLt SUBJECT TO fev CONVENIENCE! C2L' UnAHUbo Our Classified Ms Work forYo'u! mi9-t 46oqi utri il fi hi I i Mil.