A Prairie Home Companion: The Movie

[filkertom]

We interrupt this Cars premiere weekend to bring you a little down-home fun, good music, and Powder Milk Biscuits (made from whole wheat raised in the rich bottomlands of the Lake Wobegon river valley by Norwegian bachelor farmers, so you know they're not only good for you, but pure, mostly. Buy them ready-made in the big blue box with the picture of the biscuit on the cover, or in the brown bag with the dark stains that indicate freshness. Whole wheat that gives shy persons the strength to get up and do what needs to be done. Heavens, they're tasty, and expeditious).

huskiebear and I saw a special preview showing of A Prairie Home Companion last night. If you are a fan of the show, I'd say, get out there and see it, but be prepared to work a little. There's no easy way to describe it -- it's kinda like the anti-Snakes On A Plane, in that it would take so long to bring an outsider up to speed on the in-jokes and stuff that it's easier to say, "Look, just go see it". But I'm not sure I'd recommend that to an outsider.

That said, it's musically rock-solid -- how can it not be, with Peter Outroushko and Robin & Linda Williams on board -- and the acting is all very good to amazing. Special props to Kevin Kline as Guy Noir, Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly as Dusty and Lefty, Meryl Streep and Lily Thompson as the Johnson Girls, Maya Rudolph as Molly, Virginia Madsen as The Dangerous Woman, Tommy Lee Jones as the Axeman, Lindsay Lohan as -- wait, I'm just naming off the whole cast. Yeah, that works. (Although Kline and Streep really pull out all the stops for this one, and I swear that both Streep and Tomlin were alternately channelling my mom. Not vocally, but in mannerisms, both talking and performing. Whew.)

Bottom line: Not a movie for everyone, not what you think it'll be, but, if you are the audience, fun and rewarding.

This spoiler-free review has been brought to you by Be-Bop-A-Rebop Rhubarb Pie.

Comments

[annechen-melo.livejournal.com]

I think it is safe to say all that know where the women are strong, the men are good-looking and the children are above average will enjoy this movie.

Those that don't know, need to know.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

Be-Bop-A-Rebop Rhubarb Pie.

What? No sponsorship by Guy's Pretty Good Grocery, or Bertha's Kitty Boutique? ;)

Mr. Annearchy and I saw PHC at the Chicago Theatre in the fall of 1986, shortly after our wedding. It really was an experience. I think Studs Turkel (who was OLD even then) was one of the guests that night. So basically PHC The Movie is a giant in-joke for fans of the radio show?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

... It's really hard to say.

There's lots of stuff that's excellent even if you've never heard or seen the show. But...

Y'see...

Oy.

[nuveena.livejournal.com]

(Bertha's Kitty Boutique.. in the dales. Clydesdale, Teasdale, Chippendale, Roy 'n Dale . . . for persons who care about cats.)

Has Studs Terkel ever been young? Physically, I mean. I saw him on Jon Stewart a month or so ago and he's still sharp as a tack. :)

[sdelmonte]

How's the tone compared to other Altman films? I have never cared for him, and have listened to PHC maybe twice, but love Kellior's novels, so I am quite curious about this.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I'm not enough of an Altman connoisseur to tell you, really. He focuses on people a lot; in this movie the live audience is not quite an afterthought. The film is much more Keillor's; it's really steeped in the script.

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

I just gotta say, waking up to this was a very nice thing.

And as someone who grew up listening to PHC every Saturday night and whose mom is the biggest Altman fan ever, I'm really pumped for this movie. We might go to Le Cafe Boeuf beforehand and then stop in Jimmy's bar afterward. Good times, man. Good times.

[kshandra]

Psst - you've got a thinko in your cast list; Tomlin came out Thompson.

What little PHC I've actually listened to, I've enjoyed (which goes from pretty much everything I've ever encountered on NPR - I need to get into the habit of actually trying to listen to the radio when I'm at home). I'm not sure I'll actually get to this while it's still in the theatre, but I am looking forward to seeing it at some point.

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

So, would you say that anyone who loved M*A*S*H (the movie) and loves PHC is squarely in the target audience here?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Most likely. :) It definitely has the vibe of a radio show, i.e., the backstage stuff is the real meat of the film.

This is on my must-see Summer movie list

[pickledcritter.livejournal.com]

I love PHC, even though I haven't had time to listen to it for (looks at a calendar)...geez! Nearly a year!

And I think that it's safe to say that there has never been a better director of ensemble casts than Robert Altman - Nashville, M*A*S*H, Short Cuts, Gosford Park, PHC, etc. The list just goes on and on and on :).

I'm seeing Cars in just a couple of hours (it's a group thing), then I'll probably go see PHC next weekend, when it's just me and Pickles. Tom, would you say this is a good date movie? Not a chick flick, not a loud actioner, just a nice quiet, homey movie to watch after a nice meal in a quiet restaurant?

Re: This is on my must-see Summer movie list

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I would say so, yes. Not necessarily romantic in and of itself, but there's a lot of love in the flick.

[gan-chan.livejournal.com]

I'll have to have some ketchup (with natural mellowing agents) on my popcorn.

EXTREMELY MINOR SPOILERS

[nuveena.livejournal.com]

I just got back from the theater. This may have been one of the best movies I've ever seen. And I'm working on blanking the lyrics from the "Mom" song or I may just never stop crying. It was a damned good (and no doubt calculated) thing to put that bad joke song right after.

And I wonder... Garrison Keillor's character is named "GK"... his initials, obviously, but I wonder if they were working in a GK Chesterton reference, too? Must think on it.

Re: EXTREMELY MINOR SPOILERS

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Dunno. He definitely was referred to as "Garrison Keillor" in the movie numerous times; maybe the crew just calls him GK, and he wrote that into the script.

[nuveena.livejournal.com]

Very likely. :)

But then, he's an English major, so he should appreciate people reading too much into something he's written. :)

[deadpool247.livejournal.com]

You're gonna interrupt a perfectly good thread about Cars, to talk about A Prairie Home Companion? Okay...a bit odd to me.

(http://www.clerks2.com)