A Prairie Home Companion
From Academy Award winning director Robert Altman and celebrated humorist Garrison Keillor comes “A Prairie Home Companion”. The film is a fictional tale of a long time radio show doing its last performance as an out-of-state company has bought its theater.
I’ll make this short and to the point. I’m on the verge of 30. That makes me about half as old as you’d need to be to really enjoy this film. While I appreciate the work and talent involved, I found the film overall to be none too engaging and there were only a handful of really funny bits to keep me awake.
Add to that a ridiculous subplot of an angel being there that night to bring someone up to heaven once they die and you have the makings of one confused film. I got the sense everything was just a metaphor for something more in life and that’s not what I went into the theater to see.
Aside from the angel thing, I also hated the noir-ish voice over work of Kevin Kline (whose character is named Guy Noir). It was almost like Keillor and Altman were purposely trying to make sure no one under 30, who isn’t a drama geek or social reject, could enjoy the film.
Though, since it is an Altman production, the requisite litany of star power is there: Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Garrison Keillor, Kevin Kline, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin. Hell, even Lindsay Lohan was involved, trying to be a serious actress.
I hope she doesn’t make too much of a habit out of it but if Kirsten Dunst can do it, who the hell can’t? And sadly, I think I’ll take Lohan over Dunst at this point.
Sub-par teen actresses aside, I was hoping “A Prairie Home Companion” would be full of witty banter and humorous performances, with a little heart thrown in for good measure.
What I got was four or five good jokes, decent to good performances and the need for a shot of whiskey.
I’m giving “A Prairie Home Companion” a 2 out of 5. The performances were stronger than the rating suggests but the angel subplot was just too absurd to let it go unmolested.
I’ll make this short and to the point. I’m on the verge of 30. That makes me about half as old as you’d need to be to really enjoy this film. While I appreciate the work and talent involved, I found the film overall to be none too engaging and there were only a handful of really funny bits to keep me awake.
Add to that a ridiculous subplot of an angel being there that night to bring someone up to heaven once they die and you have the makings of one confused film. I got the sense everything was just a metaphor for something more in life and that’s not what I went into the theater to see.
Aside from the angel thing, I also hated the noir-ish voice over work of Kevin Kline (whose character is named Guy Noir). It was almost like Keillor and Altman were purposely trying to make sure no one under 30, who isn’t a drama geek or social reject, could enjoy the film.
Though, since it is an Altman production, the requisite litany of star power is there: Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Garrison Keillor, Kevin Kline, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin. Hell, even Lindsay Lohan was involved, trying to be a serious actress.
I hope she doesn’t make too much of a habit out of it but if Kirsten Dunst can do it, who the hell can’t? And sadly, I think I’ll take Lohan over Dunst at this point.
Sub-par teen actresses aside, I was hoping “A Prairie Home Companion” would be full of witty banter and humorous performances, with a little heart thrown in for good measure.
What I got was four or five good jokes, decent to good performances and the need for a shot of whiskey.
I’m giving “A Prairie Home Companion” a 2 out of 5. The performances were stronger than the rating suggests but the angel subplot was just too absurd to let it go unmolested.
posted by Upgrayedd at 6/13/2006 07:29:00 PM
2 Comments:
I think you're way off on this review also.
Although I never saw the movie.
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