THE HIPPIE IN THE WALL

The discovery of a 20-year-old corpse in the wall of Madame Julie's, a New Orleans strip joint, turns out to be a big break for Times-Picayune gossip columnist Margo Fortier, whose long marriage of convenience to barely closeted society scion Julian Fortier hides her former identity as Cherry, a veteran of Julie's. Now, Margo hopes to make the leap to hard news, armed with her identification of the body as peacenik Eric Dowd and her friendship with the other strippers: wigged-out fortuneteller Eileen (Samantha) Herd, lesbian friend-of-battered-wives Toby (the Texas Tornado) Castle, and ageless gymnast Sheila Casey, still plying her trade in Bourbon Street ever since Eric's disappearance cost her the chance to become Mrs. Dowd. There's not an ounce of gravity in the buried-secrets plot; even the present-day detection, set against the background of Desert Storm, is a dose of instant nostalgia. Mildly diverting lightweight fare, pleasantly toned down from the in-your-face Gay Pride antics of The Closet Hanging (1987).