The Ballad of Little Jo

Its ethereal, penetrating tenacity as it strips Western mythology to shreds and reveals its blatantly misogynistic center is striking, and the tragically haunting truthfulness of its final images is impossible to forget.

The Ballad of Little Jo is an exemplary and often starkly beautiful tale -- a mix of adventure and romance which succeeds in reinstating female experience into a genre which has by definition sidelined it.

Although Amis Isn't convincing as a man, the story still holds some power.

Maggie Greenwald directs with a serene beauty and elegant pacing, bringing to mind such films as 'Brokeback Mountain.'