A Prarie Home Companion (2006)

Country: USA
Dir: Robert Altman
Genre: Dromedy
Rating: 7.5/10

Acclaimed director robert altman shows no signs of aging in his latest adaptation of Garrison Keillor's A prairie home companion. This movie is a stage version of show host garrison keillor's long time running program on national public radio called by the same name.

In the movie, Keillor plays himself as the unflappable emcee of the show - composed of various acts of country music - played by cowboys Woody Harrelson, and John C Reilly, and singing duo Merly Streep and Lily Tomlin. Kevin Kline plays the role of a backstage doorkeeper disguised as a shamus....a private dick who is out to discover the true identity of a mysterious blonde played by the elegant Virginia Madsen. Lindsay Lohan plays the daughter of Merly Streep who is trying to find her true voice in front of a live audience.

Altman, like in his movies - Nashville, Mash, and Gosford Park, finds comfort in directing yet another movie with a huge star cast. This film has a undercurrent of satire typical of altman. He also infuses the subject of mortality, obvious, considering altman is 81 and has had a heart transplant in the recent past.



Needless to say there's a lot of cross talk between the characters, reminiscent of altmans movies. A few minutes into the movie, I felt I was eavesdropping on streep and tomlin's conversation. A lot of screen time is given to them, and I wish there was more. Harrelson and Reilly are hilarious singing songs about dirty jokes. There's a scene with Kline and Madsen which is a re-enactment of a scene from the howard hawkes's The Big Sleep (1946), it's hard to miss.

This is one of the very few good movies out this year. Infact, I can't recall a movie after V for.. that has been so enjoyable (Over the hedge and The devil wears.. were two other movies I enjoyed this summer). The blog's content posted in the last couple of months speaks for itself. So there you go, A Prarie Home.. is the next best movie so far, and is a treat to all the altman fan's out there.