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A Prairie Home Companion

Published Saturday, June 10, 2006 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

REVIEW: I have to agree with my colleague Jim: "charming but surprisingly toothless." If you're a fan of Garrison Keillor's NPR show, "A Prairie Home Companion," and wanted to see its whimsy folkiness captured on camera by Robert Altman, then this movie is perfect for you. The more you like Keillor and Altman, the more you're like the film. Take Keillor's odd sense of humor (he wrote the screenplay), the aforementioned whimsy folkiness of his radio program, add an all-star cast including Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin as singing sisters, Lindsay Lohan as Streep's angst-ridden daughter, Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly as a humorously hammy duo, and Kevin Kline as what exactly, I'm not really sure, but he is a very funny guy. I wasn't really sure about Virginia Madsen's grinning reaper angel character, but Jim set me straight, reminding me that with Altman aging and ailing (the studios require a second director on each of his films, for insurance purposes!), it's a nod to how even the best things and people have to end eventually.