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Lindsay Lohan in A Prairie Home Companiona prairie home companion |
Fitting tribute to the life of a great director
Directed by Robert Altman
Certificate PG
THE loss of Robert Altman in the autumn has left a big, big gap in American film making. And when you watch his last film you will mourn the passing of a true cinema great.
A Prairie Home Companion is based on radio star Garrison Keillor’s real show, and was co-written by the host.
It is the last ever performance of his long running popular act and it’s stars are going through their well worn turns.
But there is something not quite right. Guy Noir (Kevin Kline) is the Dick Tracey-style private detective whose past hints of racier assignments. Now he spends his time acting as security and general fixer for the radio show.
A mysterious, beautiful woman (Virginia Madsen) appears backstage and it transpires she is an angel, come to take a cast member to heaven. She was once a fan of the station, and we discover she died when she lost control of her car through laughing at a poor joke about two penguins on a ice floe (One says to the other: It looks like you are wearing a dinner jacket. To which the Penguin replies: How do you know I am not?)
Of course, anyone who comes into contact with an angel is smitten – she charms all as she works as a cuddly grim reaper – and there is a cosy discussion of mortality.
But much of the time the plot is almost secondary to the music and the scope of the photography that makes every scene beautiful to look at. If you were to watch it two or three times, you would still be discovering new incidents tucked away in the background.
The opening and final scenes are urban landscapes based on the art of Edward Hopper. Such concepts make this film simply beautiful to watch.
The paradoxes of ‘Americana’ are laid bare. The wonderful, spiritual music of the Gospel and its Mississippi Delta off shoots, the mix of country and western and folk all feature.
And while the songs are all about your soul, the fantastically comic jingles belted out by the cast between numbers, advertising the shows sponsors, are used to show the dollar-driven nature of the American dream.
But although the music is the thread which holds it altogether and keep you tapping your feet, the cast carry off this bizarre idea of the ‘fin de siecle’ of rickety vaudeville style acts brilliantly.
Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep shine as the singing Johnson sisters – when the pair are on screen together it is a feast. Their rapid-fire banter is so well observed.
Woody Harrelson and John C Reilly are Dusty and Lefty, the two cowboys in off the range to sing their humorous ditties – which are slightly risqué and drives the producers to despair.
The later the show gets, the ruder they get – bringing moments of hilarity interspersed with some genuinely enjoyable musical numbers.
Other little gags are the over-worked special effects man, fed almost impossible tasks by the rest of the cast, and a mention has to be made of the super backing band.
It is a fine piece of entertainment, and is a fitting, final tribute to Altman’s life. |
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