Robert Altman is an actors' director, and his films are usually showcases for acting performances as well as studies of intricate human relationships. A Prairie Home Companion is all that, plus a tribute to old-fashioned variety radio broadcast.
"A Prairie Home Companion" is a long-running, popular radio show performed and broadcast live on stage at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre. But something is different today. It would be the last show for everyone involved — the company, owned by Axeman (Tommy Lee Jones), is pulling the plug on the show and demolishing the theatre to make way for a new parking garage. But the show must go on. Such is the philosophy of G.K. (Garrison Keillor), the MC of the show, who keeps the broadcast strictly business without any mention of its impending demise or, for that matter, anything else that is not part of the program.
The performers wrestle with their sadness and professionalism during the very last show. They include the Johnson Sisters, Yolanda (Meryl Streep) and Rhonda (Lily Tomlin) and the funny, singing cowboy duo Dusty (Woody Harrelson) and Lefty (John C. Reilly). During the performance, security officer Guy Noir (Kevin Kline) notices a mysterious woman in a white trench-coat (Virginia Madsen) who seems to appear and disappear at random. As the show approaches its end, the emotions become insurmountable for some and they all hope that perhaps this performance really won't be their last.
The all-star cast of actors have earned enough Oscars to fill the sound stage. There is Streep (The Devil Wears Prada), whose versatility continues to amaze and enthrall us. Her emotional yet restrained performance as the frumpy, babbling, reminiscing songster is sweet and nuanced. Likewise, Tomlin (I Heart Huckabees) is the counterpoint of Streep as her equally babbling, reminiscing but more showy sister Rhonda. Their chemistry is beautiful. Lindsay Lohan (Just My Luck) is less impressive as Yolanda's morose teenage daughter. It's not that she's a bad actress, but she definitely pales in the company of these veterans.
Kline (The Pink Panther) is interestingly subdued but smug as the indifferent narrator. Harrelson (North Country) and Reilly (Dark Water) are funny as the happy-go-lucky duo of singing cowboys. Madsen (Firewall) is surprisingly but appropriately dispassionate as the mysterious woman in the trench-coat. Maya Rudolph (50 First Dates) is fun to watch as the cankerous single mother-to-be. Veteran radio broadcaster-writer Keillor pretty much played himself.
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