A Prairie Home Companion Review

Robert Altman's final film is an ensemble drama about the final night of a fictional version of writer Garrison Keillor's real-life radio show. As with much of Altman's work, there's not much plot to speak of. Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep play singing sisters Yolanda and Rhonda Johnson, bantering backstage while waiting to go on. Similarly, Lindsay Lohan plays Yolanda's daughter Lola, who's about to make her debut on the final show, while Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly pretty much steal the film as Dusty and Rusty, a pair of singing cowboys. The superb ensemble cast also includes Kevin Kline as house detective Guy Noir (who provides an amusing, cliche-laden 40s-style commentary), Keillor himself as the on-stage narrator and Virginia Madsen as a mysterious woman in white who may or may not be an angel.

The ensemble cast are excellent and deliver Altman's naturalistic, overlapping dialogue so well that it often feels like you're watching a documentary. There are several funny moments (Streep's on-stage confrontation of Keillor is a particular highlight) and the songs themselves are both lively and entertaining, especially when Dusty and Rusty are on stage.

The film's unusual set design works well too - the film is set in the present day but it feels like the 1940s or 1950s, which gives the movie an elegiac feel that seems somehow appropriate. In short, "A Prairie Home Companion" is a fitting swansong to Robert Altman's career, with enjoyable performances and an entertaining mix of music and gentle comedy.