Diagonaldi Very well executed

HeadlinesExotic Boring

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

PandoraProductions4 This is a charming wonderful film about the last night of a radio show before it goes off the air forever. There is a sort of sweet sadness and memory of older times that hangs over the performers, as they reminisce about their lives. The camera weaves back and forth, letting the actors do their thing, without any chopping editing. The radio show is country/folk music themed, so there is plenty of good music to be had. Much of the inner workings of the show are revealed. We get to know the characters almost too well, with all their individual quirks and personalities. There's Guy Noir, who seems like he's from a Film Noir. And the Johnson sisters with all their emotional baggage. There's Dusty and Lefty, two cowboys; hillbillies and proud of it. You get the picture. All their interactions are golden. Yet, underneath the lively music and warmhearted people, there is an undercurrent of death. Because that's what the movie's about, when it comes right down to it. It's about things coming to a close. There are so many references to death in the movie. It shows how large a role death plays in these people's lives. This is personified in an angel who wanders around the proceedings. Even the young people are affected: Lindsay Lohan's character writes poems about suicide. So how can a film with such strong and serious themes be also so joyous and uplifting? That's the magic of it. It was Robert Altman's last film; he died shortly after the making of it, and he probably knew that he would. I think this is his parting gift to us. We should cherish this gem.

SnoopyStyle Guy Noir (Kevin Kline) is a hard-boiled character working security at the radio program 'A Prairie Home Companion' and it's the last night on the air. Garrison Keillor brings some great A-list stars into his movie. There is also the master director Robert Altman. Dusty (Woody Harrelson) and Lefty (John C. Reilly) are cowboy singing duo. Virginia Madsen plays the mysterious woman in white. Yolanda (Meryl Streep) and Rhonda Johnson (Lily Tomlin) are sister singing duo as Yolanda tries to get her daughter Lola (Lindsay Lohan) to sing with them.I have never heard the radio show. I'm not really a fan of this kind of music. The good reviews and Robert Altman attracted me to the movie. There is barely anything here for me. It's obvious to say this movie meanders. That is part of Altman's style. However I have a hard time find anything compelling in this. It became very repetitive for me. Keillor has the presence of a stuffy college professor. The A-list cast is interesting but then they add an actress like Lohan. It's not that she does a horrible job as much as she sticks out like a sore thumb. This is just not a movie for me.

arthera09 I was totally blown away by this film. I did not know what to expect when I went into this film, but I knew that Robert Altman was a filmmaker to check out. I actually bought this film for a few dollars at a local video store and have had it for years. I am glad I did.It starts out with a mystery noir feel to it and it really just added to the charm to film. This introduces this world that is not of any time period, but really a meeting point of old and new. There was something so classic about the film that it had me smiling through most of the film. The movie follows the cast of a radio show called A Prairie Home Companion as they perform their final show. Everyone from the performers to the producers and more feel the lose of the show and by the end you will too.There is an indescribable charm that can be mostly attributed to Garrison Keillor. He plays the host of Prairie Home Companion a live radio show that is performed in front of a live audience. I guess this was pretty common back in the day. The single most amazing thing about this movie is that I feel as if this is what the show is actually like.Garrison Keillor, or GK, really has a certain charm that is just missing. He plays his character as if he slightly senile, but in the end all of his stories of how he got into radio really says a lot about his character. He tells all of these different stories of how he got into radio and in end it says that everything that has happened in his life is what has led him to where he is now. It really is a wonderful character that the more you think about him the more intricate he becomes. He refuses to say goodbye to his listeners even though it is his last show. At first it just comes off as a stubborn old man, but it means a lot to him and to not to change anything ends up making sense.I could talk about the character of GK all night, but I must say that I loved the rest of the cast, with the exception of the most seasoned actress. Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin. They did a good job acting, but unfortunately their singing talent is not up to par to the rest of the cast. They are just not that good. But in their defense in one of their songs about their "mamma" I did start to feel the emotion of the song. Even if they did not sound that good they were still able to get the emotion across. Harrelson and Reily on the other hand sounded great. I was really blown away by how good they were and how well their voices came together.The rest of the cast were all extremely well cast and played their parts perfectly. Madsen gets a lot of credit and I really bought her as an angel. I feel as if I must say a few words about Lohan and the fact that she can act if she chooses to. She was not the best actress out there, but her character brought a lot to the film. She had the largest arc out of any of the characters. She went from an attitude filled teenager to a young adult who understood what made this experience so special.I must say it is really hard to describe this movie and it is something that needs to be experienced for oneself. There is so much to like about this movie and all of it comes together in a neat little package that just warms the heart. I loved the experience of visiting a Prairie Home Companion and Altman has really captured something unique on film and has shared it with the world to enjoy.

bobsgrock What a weird, wonderful and charming movie that could only have been made by the great Robert Altman, who takes a stage full of quirky singers and radio stars and gives us a timeless look at the inner workings on the final production of one of the staples of radio programming, the country variety show A Prairie Home Companion.With a screenplay by the host himself, Garrison Keillor, Altman charges head-on into this array of characters, including a strange Phillip Marlowe-type noir character (Kevin Kline) and a mysterious woman in white roaming throughout the final performance (Virginia Madsen). Yet, the real stars of this movie are the recognizable actors such as Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Lily Tomlin, Lindsay Lohan and the immortal Meryl Streep as various singers who come to embody everything that is loved and cherished about this program. At times, the narrative seems to pause itself and make time for characters that have little or no significance to the larger story, which is the sadness and nostalgic memories of a show much celebrated in the past but now at the end of its run.Yet, what is remembered most from this movie is the great acting by the huge cast and a number of memorable songs, mostly from Streep, Tomlin, Harrelson and Reilly. All in all, a fine ending to a very original and often bumpy road in the career of Robert Altman.