A Prairie Home Companion

2006. Directed by Robert Altman. Written by Garrison Keillor. Starring Garrison Keillor, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, John C. Reilly, Woody Harrelson, Kevin Kline, Virginia Madsen, Lindsay Lohan, and Tommy Lee Jones.

Garrison Keillor's radio program "A Prairie Home Companion" gets a fictionalized final show in Robert Altman's final film. Keillor, who wrote the script, is on hand as the host who nothing seems to trouble but who's also not willing to discuss on air that this is the final show or even the death of a performer during the live program. Meryl Streep shows an impressive singing voice as half of the singing-sister duo also featuring Lily Tomlin. John C. Reilly and Woody Harrelson are a blast as the singing cowboys. I am not familiar with the radio program itself and I never got into the Kevin Kline character (Guy Noir, a character from the program who is acting as security in the film). I enjoyed it enough to keep going but I never loved it. The most fun I had was the singing cowboys doing their bad jokes song. I played it again for my wife to hear, not figuring the kids would be paying any attention, only to hear Brady singing the chorus long after I had taken the film back out.

My grade: B