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	A Prairie Home Companion
	Robert Altman Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Garrison Keillor, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, L.Q. Jones, Marylouise Burke 2006		You don't have to be a fan of creator/host Garrison Keillor's long-running public-radio series "A Prairie Home Companion" to get a kick, a giggle and a load of grins from the whimsical, often wistful and deceptively homespun (but hip) movie derived from the show. For the uninitiated, "P.H.C." (the program) is a live two-hour compendium of roots music, character comedy, faux commercials, and Keillor's orated tales of the cozy, mythical town of Lake Wobegon. The concept of a fictionalized film adaptation of a real radio show about an idealized small-town world is a strange one. But A-list talents came together and gave life to Keillor's good-natured, tongue-in-cheek screenplay. Set backstage and onstage, the plot involves the imagined final "P.H.C." broadcast from the St. Paul, Minnesota auditorium that's served as the show's home base for years. Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin display their comedic and musical expertise as a rustic, country-folk sister act, with Lindsay Lohan as Streep's moody, thoroughly modern daughter. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly are teamed as wry singing-cowboy duo Dusty & Lefty. Kevin Kline is anachronistic detective-turned-theater-security-man Guy Noir. Tommy Lee Jones is the corporate bean-counter shutting down the venue; Virginia Madsen is a beautiful, mysterious woman who haunts the proceedings; and Keillor plays himself. There could be no better director to oversee such an endeavor than Robert Altman, whose "Gosford Park," "Nashville," and other equally masterful movies illustrate his facility with ensemble casts and multi-layered narratives. Here, Altman expertly mingles lively musical numbers and charming interpersonal vignettes in an atmosphere tinged by a yearning for a kinder, gentler America. It's sweet corn to please educated palates and feed hungry hearts.


	Sunday, November 17, 2024





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