untitled
A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION
Directed by: Robert
Altman
Internet Movie
Database Entry for full details
GRADE: A- (3.3/4)
2006.
My
roommate walked into the living room while I was watching A Prairie Home Companion,
during a duet between Meryl Streep and Garrison Keillor about rhubarb
pie, and asked, “oh, is this like A Mighty Wind?”
Keillor’s unabashed sincerity can be disconcerting for
generations raised on irony and cynicism, but that seems to be, at least partly, what Robert Altman's new film is about.
Ostensibly the film is about a fictional farewell performance of
Keillor’s actual long-running radio programme from which the
film gets its name. There’s not much of a plot,
just a lot of corny jokes and hokey musical numbers that are quite
charming in their innocuousness. Backstage there is a fair
share of old-fashioned sex, death, and hard-times, but Keillor is
careful not to allow any of it to seep into the show. Many,
though not all, of Keillor’s regulars have been replaced with
an all-star cast that shows off its acting chops and competent singing
talents. Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep, in particular, scintillate as a couple
of singing sisters; they have such a delightful, natural rapport that
one feels they could just watch them prattle all day.
Comparisons with Woody Allen's Radio Days seem apparent, if only because of the subject matter (they both bemoan the decline of radio: as one Prairie
character notes, all you have on the radio after Keillor is "people
yelling at you and computers playing music"), but while that film
approaches the elegaic, Altman remarkably eschews sentimentality.
Therein lies its greatness: iPods may replace Victrolas, and the
internet may supplant band tuners, but the divergence of generations,
although it may be unfortunate in some regard, certainly isn't tragic.
After all, Lindsay Lohan, as Streep's daughter, still gets up to
sing "Frankie and Johnnie", only with her own set of lyrics. The
best thing any of us can do is just wear a smile and keep on singing
until our time comes.
-- Henry Stewart
Post a comment/reply on our Discussion Board
-------
© 2006
Send Us an Email
Cinepinion Home
The Cinepinion Archives
bravenet.com