It pains me to say it, but up until I watched A Prairie Home Companion, I had never seen a Robert Altman film from beginning to end. Not for lack of trying mind you, but it just never happened. But with the passing of one of the greatest American filmmakers of the past few decades, I decided to give at least one of them a shot. And even though Companion is imperfect, it does succeed in making me want to view other films he directed.
The film is an ensemble piece that tells the story of the last broadcast for the titular radio show. Going from backstage to centre stage, the viewer gets a first hand look at the inner workings of the advertisements, singing and shenanigans that go into creating an olden style Mid-Western radio programme.
Trying to describe any of the numerous subplots is an exercise all in itself. Suffice to say, there are at least a dozen characters in the film, and at least a dozen plots all join together to form a cohesive narrative that runs smoothly alongside the main element of the radio broadcast. It is an interesting experiment, and reminded me a lot of older films of a bygone era.
Working alongside Altman, Garrison Keillor has created a wonderful rendition of what I would imagine would have been a normal day at the office for him. Just hearing his voice introducing acts, reading off advertisements or singing is enough to watch the film alone. His ability to convey all of his radio knowledge into a working script is nothing short of astounding. Its authenticity is only one upped by the repertoire of rhetoric used throughout the film. Clever and witty banter among characters is frequent, and even the raunchiest of phrases and ideas sound eloquent and sophisticated. There is a certain sweetness in the naivety of some of the language employed by Keillor's characters, but it makes it all the more proper and true to where the film takes place.
But this is what also damages the film. Some exchanges between characters go for far too long with this employed dialogue, and it just gets awkward. You know that these actors would never talk like this in real life, or in any other movie for that matter. The majority of them just look too timid to respect the work enough to make it feel realistic coming out of their mouths. At times, it just becomes too sophisticated and too good for the film it is in. If this was a film from the 1970's, the witty banter would have gone a long way with hilarious consequences. But in 2007, it just gets mild snickers and not much else. It is not that the dialogue was too hard to follow, it just did not feel proper to use for the entirety of the film. It works in a lot of areas, but when it does not, it just drags the film kicking and screaming through a dry spell of boredom.
The acting is another up and down slope. All of the characters are interesting, and are all given a presence within the film no matter how small the role. You know that they are important to the radio show, and therefore, are important to the film. Keillor for one, is central to the entirety of the film, and really drives much of its points home. His innocence and ignorance are the driving force of many scenes, and I think that if his character was played by a professional actor, it would not have had nearly as much intensity as the kind that he brings to the screen.
But sadly, not all of the actors really get time to shine like Keillor. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly are one-note jokes who are vaguely explained, and not really expressed well at all. We know these two are accomplished actors, but seeing them hear is just awkward (especially after all of Reilly's screwball comedy antics as of late). Tommy Lee Jones is one of the most important characters in the film, and he basically brings nothing to the table. Maya Rudolph is criminally underused in her role, yet is nowhere near as strong an actor as the other three.
And then far too much focus is put on Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin and Lindsay Lohan. Streep and Tomlin are Altman regulars, so it is obvious why they are here. But why in the hell is Lohan here? Was she working towards getting a bit more street credibility so Hollywood would take the spoiled brat seriously? She does alright for herself, but her character just does not connect in the way she should. When things really start happening, you really do not even see the character she is playing. You see Lohan playing a caricature of herself. But then again, so does Tomlin, as she mimics her behaviour from those infamous YouTube videos in some sequences. But at least she looked alright doing it. Streep is really downplayed on the other hand. But if there were so many issues to easily pick up on with these three, why devote so much time to them?
Kevin Kline and Virginia Madsen on the other hand, work perfectly. They play off of each other well, and are even better on their own. Their characters are beautifully expressed and quite majestically move scene to scene making everyone around them better. Of course, it helps that both are playing very enigmatic characters, but that does not take away from any of their moments on screen (if anything, it just begs for more exploration).
On the whole, A Prairie Home Companion is a decent effort, and an enjoyable one at that. It has a lot of interesting ideas, but it could have done with a bit of a polish to fix some rather boring eyesores.
7.5/10.
The film is an ensemble piece that tells the story of the last broadcast for the titular radio show. Going from backstage to centre stage, the viewer gets a first hand look at the inner workings of the advertisements, singing and shenanigans that go into creating an olden style Mid-Western radio programme.
Trying to describe any of the numerous subplots is an exercise all in itself. Suffice to say, there are at least a dozen characters in the film, and at least a dozen plots all join together to form a cohesive narrative that runs smoothly alongside the main element of the radio broadcast. It is an interesting experiment, and reminded me a lot of older films of a bygone era.
Working alongside Altman, Garrison Keillor has created a wonderful rendition of what I would imagine would have been a normal day at the office for him. Just hearing his voice introducing acts, reading off advertisements or singing is enough to watch the film alone. His ability to convey all of his radio knowledge into a working script is nothing short of astounding. Its authenticity is only one upped by the repertoire of rhetoric used throughout the film. Clever and witty banter among characters is frequent, and even the raunchiest of phrases and ideas sound eloquent and sophisticated. There is a certain sweetness in the naivety of some of the language employed by Keillor's characters, but it makes it all the more proper and true to where the film takes place.
But this is what also damages the film. Some exchanges between characters go for far too long with this employed dialogue, and it just gets awkward. You know that these actors would never talk like this in real life, or in any other movie for that matter. The majority of them just look too timid to respect the work enough to make it feel realistic coming out of their mouths. At times, it just becomes too sophisticated and too good for the film it is in. If this was a film from the 1970's, the witty banter would have gone a long way with hilarious consequences. But in 2007, it just gets mild snickers and not much else. It is not that the dialogue was too hard to follow, it just did not feel proper to use for the entirety of the film. It works in a lot of areas, but when it does not, it just drags the film kicking and screaming through a dry spell of boredom.
The acting is another up and down slope. All of the characters are interesting, and are all given a presence within the film no matter how small the role. You know that they are important to the radio show, and therefore, are important to the film. Keillor for one, is central to the entirety of the film, and really drives much of its points home. His innocence and ignorance are the driving force of many scenes, and I think that if his character was played by a professional actor, it would not have had nearly as much intensity as the kind that he brings to the screen.
But sadly, not all of the actors really get time to shine like Keillor. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly are one-note jokes who are vaguely explained, and not really expressed well at all. We know these two are accomplished actors, but seeing them hear is just awkward (especially after all of Reilly's screwball comedy antics as of late). Tommy Lee Jones is one of the most important characters in the film, and he basically brings nothing to the table. Maya Rudolph is criminally underused in her role, yet is nowhere near as strong an actor as the other three.
And then far too much focus is put on Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin and Lindsay Lohan. Streep and Tomlin are Altman regulars, so it is obvious why they are here. But why in the hell is Lohan here? Was she working towards getting a bit more street credibility so Hollywood would take the spoiled brat seriously? She does alright for herself, but her character just does not connect in the way she should. When things really start happening, you really do not even see the character she is playing. You see Lohan playing a caricature of herself. But then again, so does Tomlin, as she mimics her behaviour from those infamous YouTube videos in some sequences. But at least she looked alright doing it. Streep is really downplayed on the other hand. But if there were so many issues to easily pick up on with these three, why devote so much time to them?
Kevin Kline and Virginia Madsen on the other hand, work perfectly. They play off of each other well, and are even better on their own. Their characters are beautifully expressed and quite majestically move scene to scene making everyone around them better. Of course, it helps that both are playing very enigmatic characters, but that does not take away from any of their moments on screen (if anything, it just begs for more exploration).
On the whole, A Prairie Home Companion is a decent effort, and an enjoyable one at that. It has a lot of interesting ideas, but it could have done with a bit of a polish to fix some rather boring eyesores.
7.5/10.