A Prairie Home Companion

Robert Altman’s last film is rather presciently a film about things coming to an end and death. The story – written by Garrison Keillor – concentrates on the last performance of a weekly ‘old time’ radio show which is due to close as the theatre it broadcasts from has been bought by a company and is due to be demolished.

Typically for Altman this is a ‘character piece’ more than a ‘story piece’; switching between on-stage music and off-stage drama, all moderated by Garrison Keillor’s ‘GK’. There are some great singing performances; Woody Harrelson & John C. Reilly as Dusty & Lefty perform a nice comedy number called “Bad Jokes”, while Meryl Streep & Lily Tomlin are surprisingly good as The Johnson Sisters. Off-stage the characters are a little stranger; Kevin Kline plays Guy Noir – the theatre’s security manager who comes over like a film noir private - while Virginia Madsen plays a strange woman that not everyone can see, who turns out to be an angel of death come to collect some souls.

Despite some strong performances, I found the film disappointing; I usually enjoy Keillor's mid-West tales either in print or listening to him perform them, however this particular one left me unsatisfied. It was also disappointing that it was Altman's swansong, as it doesn't compare well against his 'greats', such as "MASH" and "Gosford Park".

“Interesting Factoids”:
- The roles of Dusty & Lefty were originally slated for Tom Waits and Lyle Lovett.
- George Clooney almost played the ‘out of place’ Guy Noir.
- There is a credit for Paul Thomas Anderson, who was available as ‘stand-by’ director should Altman be unable to finish the film.