A Prairie Home Companion

Chris and I went to see this film after my japanese class, while Vana was desperately trying to finish some part of a university paper... Oh well... First thing that came to mind after I read the movie title on imdb was Little House On The Prairie. But... that's a whole other story. So, arriving at the cinema, I saw that they only had the "poster" to the left, but the size of a street flyer, when the rest of the movies were prominently of gigantic proportions.

I knew nothing more of the movie, than the plot outlines on imdb, nor did I know that there is an actual live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion on local radios in the USA. (Can't really say if it's still running though).

The film begins with private eye (slash vice president of the radio) Guy Noir (Kevin Kline), in a characteristic scene out of a film noir (see the connection? :P). When we finally enter the premises of the theater, where the last broadcast of the show will take place, we are introduced to a multitude of different radio personas, from the "lonesome" cowboys Dusty (Woody Harrelson) and Lefty (John C. Reilly) and the Johnson Girls (Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin), to the show's pregnant stage coordinator (Maya Rudolph).

What strikes you as "odd" at first, is the overlapping of voices (the subtitles did a horrible job with the stand alone dialogue, let alone the overlapping one...), which really makes the film stand out and gives it a more natural feel. This is a signature style of the director, Robert Altman. (I've only seen his Gosford Park and can't really remember Prêt-à-Porter...)

In short, a fun movie about death (oh the irony!), with signs of the supernatural thrown in the wacky mix (a mix that includes Lindsay Lohan portraying Meryl Streep character's suicide-loving daughter). Some may find it boring, some frustrating, even more so if you're not that keen of the "old American way" and country music. I just thought it was nice. Plain and simple... and weird. In a good way.