"The show had been on the air since Jesus was in the 3rd grade."
Gentle and unassuming, with the warmth and friendliness of an old friend, Garrison Keillor's iconic radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" has occupied a small niche of the American airwaves for nearly 30 years. Here now comes the film version of that public radio institution, done with a quiet inoffensive charm by master filmmaker Robert Altman (his farewell film), the result being a thoroughly enjoyable and faithful rendering of the show and a cinematic delight for, dare I say it, the entire family.
The film's story, such as it is, revolves around the recent sale of the radio station to some media conglomerate in Texas, who wants to turn the theatre into a parking lot, effectively putting the show out of business and making this the final show. Keillor, the show's leader and host, has little interest in making any sort of fuss over the impending end, despite the objections of several members of the cast. Meanwhile, private eye and head of security Guy Noir (Kevin Kline) is busy tracking down a dangerous woman in a white trench-coat (Virginia Madsen) and trying to convince the Axeman (Tommy Lee Jones) that to end the show would be a great disservice. All of this occurs during the show, broadcast live in front of an audience, but this being an Altman film, the plot has little to do with what the film is really about. Altman's main focus is instead the interplay between various members of his ensemble cast and the inter-workings of a radio show behind the scenes. The plot is merely a structure around which the characters can revolve.
Keillor's script is structured like a radio play, with Guy Noir as the occasional narrator, mostly because if you're going to do an old radio play, you might as well have a private eye narrator, and partly because Guy Noir is one of Keillor's recurring characters. And if you're going to have Guy Noir as the narrator, then you have to have a dangerous woman. Keillor's master-stroke, though, is to make the dangerous woman an angel of death, a fitting metaphor for a radio show on its last run. She could be coming for the Axeman or any member of the cast or for the show itself or even for the aspect of Americana that the show invokes, but it isn't really important in the end, because she represents the passage of time that serves as the film's unstated antagonist.
The bad guy isn't really the Axeman or his Texas corporation (although, it certainly isn't the hero), but the rapidly progressing world that makes such things possible. But no one handles such change better than Keillor, whose motto is that every show is the last show. In a great backstage scene, he sits quietly as the dangerous woman informs him that she is an angel of death, quietly eating an apple. I guess when you've been doing live radio for 30 years, not even death can startle you.
Nor, I imagine, would it warrant much more than an "oh really?" from Yolanda Johnson (Meryl Streep), who along with Rhonda (Lily Tomlin) forms the singing Johnson sisters. Streep plays Yolanda as something of a typically American housewife prone to moments of hysteria. She flutters through the film, absent-minded and emotional. She shows up minutes before the show goes on the air, her daughter Lola (Lindsay Lohan) in tow, and remarks that they have plenty of time. The entire radio cast, for that matter, shows a surprising lack of concern for the contents of the program. Other than figuring out what song they'll sing, no one seems to be giving much thought to the proceedings on-stage. Keillor seems more interested in telling numerous accounts of how he got into radio, Lefty (John C. Reilly) and Dusty (Woody Harrelson) are busy trying to impress Lola, and Guy Noir can be seen wandering amongst the band. They have an easy-going professionalism that appear deceptively simple, giving the audience the impression that it can't be all that hard, but this is a hard-won professionalism, perfected over 30 years. That it comes off as effortless is a testament to its power.
The same can be said for Altman's direction, which can easily be confused with a complete lack of direction. His camera floats through the proceedings, moving from the stage to the wings to backstage with little distinction. To Altman, the proceedings backstage are as important as what's being broadcast over the radio - sometimes even more important - and quite often he's right. The fact that Keillor ignores the singing on-stage in favour of telling a story or that he calmly eats an apple while talking to an angel during the break, says a lot for the mentality both of Keillor and his cronies and Altman himself. It's a common theme in Altman's work that allows A Prairie Home Companion to be a perfect fit into his filmography.
It is a film that perhaps only Altman could have made. It's not, by any stretch of imagination, a great film, for much like the radio show it depicts, it has no such ambitions and would be embarrassed to be considered as such. But, it is a whimsical delight, the likes of which is rare, too good-natured to be thought of with anything but fondness. In the end, A Prairie Home Companion is one of those films destined to settle into the corner of a great number of DVD collections (including mine), waiting for a rainy day or a cold winter night when it might warm the soul, cinematic comfort food to delight the senses. A lovely, lovely film.
Wow, what a cast! And an incredibly feel-good movie. A nostalgic goodbye from Altman to the America he knew. It's times that I hate to see movies built with a very thin plot (I'm Not There is one of them) and it's times that it actually works very well. This movie is exactly that. Unfortunately, I am not 20 years older or have memories of radio grateness but if you have, I think you'll love it...
Beautiful, touching movie about the last radio show...
I like some songs... 'Bad Jokes' was funny.
The story was good, the casts were excellent, and surprisingly, Meryl Streep!
(I've never imagined how she sings... Expecially after the Devil Wears Prada..)
Somehow, Lindsay Lohan just didn't fit... And she ruined the great ending of the movie with the insurance thing...
This movie is essentially the same as A Mighty Wind, although it seems to be trying to pull off some kind of metaphysical twist with the whole angel thing, but that didn't really do anything for me. The actors seem like they must have had a good time making it, and it does have a good cast, but I have to say it still falls short of the 4-star mark.
Apesar de muitos predizerem, a cada filme que passa, o final da carreira de Robert Altman, A Prairie Home Companion é prova bastante para um certo refreamento no que concerne a vaticínios.
Desde 1974 que Garrison Keillor, um verdadeiro storyteller inventor de novos dias da rádio, mantém no ar o seu programa, cujo nome dá título ao filme de Altman. Aquele é um programa de rádio à antiga, feito perante uma audiência, com jingles publicitários inventados, folhetins, números musicais, anedotas, entre outros eventos.
Robert Altman, vislumbrando o potencial visual de um universo eminente radiofónico, mas também teatral, fez a partir do argumento do próprio Keillor, um filme homenagem a um certo tempo em que a rádio era rainha do entretenimento. E fê-lo, mesclando personagens reais, como por exemplo a banda do próprio show, com outros alter-egos artísticos, criados pelo próprio Keillor que protagoniza o filme.
Mas ?Prairie Home Companion, embora se queira afirmar como objecto de entretenimento musicado, cantado, representado, não se fica apenas pelo tributo a um universo esquecido. Antes se move (e como é essa a palavra decisiva para falar de Prairie Home Companion) num espaço concebido para o estudo deambulatório de personagens, integradas em ambiente semi-controlado. Como tanto gosta aliás Altman de fazer (veja-se Gosford Park ou A Wedding). E neste acompanhamento de múltiplas personagens, acaba por se esbater a noção de protagonismo, pululando no filme uma série de performers que atravessam, naquela que é a linear linha narrativa do filme, a última emissão do programa Prairie Home Companion, antes do espaço fechar portas. E se de certa forma não existe um centro humano dramático no filme, (e por isso, este nos pareça, a espaços, lento e despessoalizado) dele emergem o tempo e o espaço, enquanto entidades acarinhadas, que guiam a obra.
Do tempo, diga-se que mantém uma continuidade próxima do tempo real- do início ao fim do programa(com excepção para um enquadramento inicial e final). Curiosa a forma como esse desdobramento, esse tempo dentro do tempo está mesmo presente na forma como estamos perante um filme nos dias de hoje, mas cuja acção real o encaixota propositadamente nos gloriosos tempos da rádio. Dependendo do ponto de vista, ou se admira um período brilhante e cristalizado no passado, ou se observa com bizarria, como que olhando para um bando de animais exóticos enjaulados num zoo, como refere The Axeman, a personagem que vem encerrar o teatro.
Da concentração temporal à espacial. Pelo espaço do teatro, a câmara de Altman deambula virtuosamente. E, seguindo personagens, diálogos, preparações, aquela não se confina ao palco, cortando antes o espaço, passando aos bastidores, estabelecendo um cá e um lá indistintos. Como o eram de certa forma os diferentes andares da casa em Gosford Park (mas aí com outras distinções de classe a habitá-los). Se num filme como Parade de Jacques Tati, projecto para televisão sobre um espectáculo circense, o intestinal do espectáculo, os bastidores, servem a acidez crítica, aqui trabalha-se a cumplicidade, a abolição de fronteiras. Fronteiras que não fazem sentido a pessoas que passam das lágrimas aos sorrisos por profissão e que tem a rotina dos anos a seu favor. Elemento especialmente visível na entrada inicial de G.K, no início do show. E porque há um lado teatral em tudo isto, Robert Altman dá-nos, número a após número, o espectáculo na sua integralidade, recusando o outro cá e lá previsível: a acção no palco e a reacção no e do público. Esta dinâmica é-nos ocultada, ficando o autor a dever-nos esse tal contra-campo reactivo.
Como que celebrando uma espécie de arte da fuga musical, Prairie Home Companion é um filme com muitas personagens, repleto de grandes nomes. Se bem que muito daquele são os artistas de rádio em palco, não nos parece que deste se queira arrancar grandes papéis. De destaque, apenas o talentosíssimo Garrisson Keillor como host do programa, Meryl Streep, uma das irmãs Johnson e Kevin Kline em overacting interessante.
Finalmente, refira-se, que não é casual que Altman, cada vez mais posto em causa nas suas capacidades (o projecto até contava com Paul Thomas Anderson, como eventual substituto na realização, caso Altman já não fosse capaz de dar conta do recado) tenha feito um filme sobre uma afirmação de vitalidade, de palavra de resistência de um universo que todos crêem morto. A solução milagrosa/religiosa de Prairie Home Companion, acaba assim por funcionar ironicamente como um ciciante último refúgio de um grande realizador.
A sweet movie about a group of people getting together for their last radio show broadcast. Allot of cute songs they sing that you don't hear at all anymore. It has a great message about some good things that end or become discarded, but when one door closes another one opens. It has some funny and witty dialogue that you would miss if you don't listen hard enough because the humor is so subtle. The character's are really interesting in their realness and subtle quirkiness and each one is so different and played rather well. A great feel-good movie that I would recommend anyone to watch.
So, the plot was ridiculously stupid, Lindsay Lohan's character was much like herself in that she was completely superfluous to the action. It was a collage of interesting characters with a few very talented artists. However, since Robert Altman made this film the comedy is so subtle it's hard to remember that it's supposed to be a comedy except for when the characters of Woody Harrelson and what's his face come out and make really cheap jokes.
I liked this.. it wasn't something i'd normally choose to watch, but it was an in train movie from Kal to Perth (8hrs) so i settled in and enjoyed every minute. Slow and feel good. Meryl streep is fab, Woody is woody and lindsay lohan is a hottie. Watch out for Kevin Kline playing a blinder
robert altmans last film, and although not a classic, it does get a little smug, theres good stuff to be had, a good cast, all doing good work, so, its goood for that
Robert Altman?s final film (as it turns out) was a remarkably entertaining, fun and often hilarious musical version of Garrison Keillor?s popular radio program, filmed in Minnesota. Keillor appeared as himself (essentially) and wrote the screenplay. The film concerned the mythical (and fictional) last night of Keillor?s popular A Prairie Home Companion radio variety program, with a cavalcade of semi-stars such as Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Lindsay Lohan, L.Q. Jones, Maya Rudolph, Tommy Lee Jones and Virginia Madsen making their way through one long, fun-filled night of bittersweet humor and great music. Just try not smiling for 105 minutes straight!
This wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. I didn't think that there would be so much singing sets. I thought that there would be more plot. Not horrible, it was ok. So many names to this movie too, yet I doubt even 5% of movie go-ers have even heard about it. Oh well, not missing much.
This is the last film of the great director Robert Altman. Even when I knew nothing of the show (it really exist) and I am not a lover of country music I really enjoyed the film. The performances are top notch, the music is great and the direction is awesome. I heard that because Altman was a little ill, P.T. Anderson helped to direct the film.
Robert Altman's last film is an appropriately subdued masterpiece. It is both a tribute to Garrison Keillor's show as well as the time period that it evokes. The excellent ensemble cast makes it feel like the type of film that stopped being made a long time ago.
Folksy, odd mishmash of wit and song. Some amusing moments, but not much plot except for the old "closing down the theater" theme. Even the Muppets have done that one!
"Every show is your last show. That's my philosophy." - Garrison Keillor
This is one of those films where you are either going to like it or hate it. It is imperative for liking this movie, that you truly understand and appreciate the art of dry humor. Garrison Keillor can be one of the funniest guys out there, if you really appreciate his brand of humor. EXAMPLE -- Two penguins are standing on an ice floe. The first penguin says, you look like you're wearing a tuxedo. The second penguin says, what makes you think I'm not? If you didn't find that humorous or clever, chances are you will not appreciate this movie. I think most people will not like this movie, but for those who do, it can be thoroughly enjoyable.
This tells the story of an old-fashioned live Saturday Night Radio Variety show hosted by G.K. (Garrison Keillor). After 30-something years on the air, a corporate axe-man (Tommy Lee Jones) has decided to pull the plug and the show's performers including a pair of Christian contemporary singing sisters (Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin), two crude and ignorant cowboys (Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly), a sound-effects man (Tom Keith) and an elderly folk performer (L.Q. Jones) are trying to deal with being cancelled. On their last broadcast, the cast is visited by a wacky Kramer-like security guard who thinks he is James Cagney (Kevin Kline) and an angel (Virginia Madsen) who comes to comfort the old Folk performers and claim the life of one of them.
Robert Altman's anything but mainstream musical/comedy/drama is proof that even in his old age, Altman hasn't softened up. Keillor provides an excellent story and script, that's filled with rich characters and conversations. The acting is definitely the high-point of the movie, and everyone even Lindsay Lohan, is perfect in the cast. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly are hysterical as the crude cowboys who sing songs about urine, crap and sex, Tommy Lee Jones is perfect in a small-role as the cut-throat axeman. Virginia Madsen plays a very interesting role as an angel who died in a car-crash from laughing so hard while listening to the radio show, and Maya Rudolph adds a perferct amount of dry comic wit as the pregnant stage manager. Garrison Keillor is hysterical playing himself especially giving an ad-libbed speech about duct tape, while Kevin Kline is a scene-stealer as the idiot security guard, a role similar to his in A Fish Called Wanda. But the people who truly steal the show, are Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin who make an incredible on-screen team and lighten up every scene they are in.
Like I said before, 'A Praire Home Campanion' just like the radio show, isn't for everyone. I personally loved the motion picture. It's nothing big and exciting, it's just a little independent film with a big heart and very interesting characters whom you sympathize with and care very deeply about. Grade: B+ (screened at AMC Deer Valley 30, Phoenix, AZ, 6/13/06)
Unusual drama / "musical" about the last night of a live radio show. Full of A-list stars including Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jone, Lindsay Lohan, Woodly Harrelson and Lily Tomlin. However The peformance of the film comes from a lesser known Garrison Keillor who's stage performance is superb. This movie is dialogue rather then plot driven and there does seem to be an in-joke on that theme with the angel wanting to take one of them. Worth a watch.
Found some of it funny and charming but given the talents involved I might have hoped for more. Some of the improvs seemed clumsy and I just didn't buy some of the characters. A little too much music?
...a story worth being told...in a way that no one else but Robert Altman could tell with his vision...his talent with ensambles can not be match...his talents will be missed...
I enjoyed this movie. It was subtle enough to put a lot of people off, but the characters were all pretty charming and off-kilter and funny. Kevin Kline never fails to pull of oblivious in perfect form.
MCT:July 13, 2008
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