Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion Right at Home
The idea of making a movie about a radio show doesn’t quite seem like an appealing one. While the two mediums aren’t exacty mutually exclusive, one operates on the distinctive principles of sound alone, while the other sound and visuals.
What is certain is such a premise would falter unless in the hands of two of the mediums’ brightest stars, and fortunately, A Prairie Home Companion comes through both the eyes and ears in the most unlikely and unparalleled of duets: director Robert Altman and writer/actor/singer Garrison Keillor.
The plot of A Prairie Home Companion is both exposition of the show’s many talented acts and personalities, as well as an examination of the themes which have rooted A Prairie Home Companion in radio history for decades. Unfortunately, the premise is one of upheaval, as resident dick Guy Noir (Kevin Kline) observes Garrison Kellior and crew (an all-star cast consisting of but not limited to Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Lindsay Lohan) during their last show.
A white-coated stranger glides on stage and backstage, listed on IMDB only as “Dangerous Woman” (giving the true name of Virginia Madsen’s character would undoubtedly ruin the surprise). By the curtain call, both revelations and friendships are brought to light in the Companion’s final performance.
The blend of Atlman and Kellior is smooth yet subtle. The off-screen director and on-screen actor/writer/singer never seem to be in competition. Companion has Kellior’s trademark wit and character, but it also benefits from Altman’s constantly organic dialogue and pacing. The resulting recipe is so effective that whenever a performance comes to a close, one feels like audibly clapping, as if the performers were on a stage instead of a screen.
Ultimately, A Prairie Home Companion serves up a compendium of Midwestern mythology. The film simultaneously gravitates with a bleak fatalism combined with heart and humor, the result of which is truly mythic yet altogether real. Figures like Guy Noir and even Dangerous Woman would be stereotypes under normal circumstances, but through Atlman and Kellior they become rich archetypes rooted in the fears, values and reactions which govern the Prairie Home Companion in both cast and audience.
Tragic yet fantastically mundane, A Prairie Home Companion is a film worth watching during any time of day along the sleepy Plains.
