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WRITER: |
Garrison Keillor (first movie credit, The radio show, A Prairie Home Companion), Ken LeZebnik (TV: Star Trek, Touched By An Angel) |
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When it comes to radio, there’s nothing bigger and more exciting than NPR - National Public Radio . . . (sorry, temporarily fell asleep at the mention of NPR) . . . and so, by all means, let’s make a movie about one of its happening new shows!
A Prairie Home Companion is a fictional movie based on a real life radio show. In the movie, the folksy radio show that has been performed in front of live audiences for decades (the true part) is being cancelled (the fictional part). The movie shows the back stage goings-on on the night of their final performance. The cast is full of recognizable actors which include the likes of Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, Woody Harrelson and Tommy Lee Jones. The movie begins with the on-air talent preparing for their last show. Meryl Streep plays a folk singer and her daughter (Lindsay Lohan) is planning to make her big debut by performing on the final show. Others intermittently prepare for the show or go on stage and do their acts. Woody Harrelson also plays a folk singer along with John C. Reilly. Kevin Kline plays the show’s security guy who is fascinated by an unusual visitor to the show, Virginia Madsen. She ends up being the angel of death, who is there on the job. Tommy Lee Jones is the ax man who is shutting down the show and arrives near the end after the security guy has convinced the angel of death to use her talents on the ax man. If the story line sounds bizarre, it’s because it is. It’s a hodge-podge of story lines that don’t really make sense and all conclude in a lackluster ending.
Okay, this is basically the movie about . . . the radio version of . . . the television show Hee Haw. There’s lot of countrified old-time music; some stupid jokes that are, in some cases, so stupid that they’re actually funny; and, again, the pointless story that makes even less sense than it does a point. If you’re a fan of the NPR program on which the movie is based, then this may actually hit the mark. If not, perhaps you’ll appreciate the peculiar culture and famed actors stepping into an odd, likely uncomfortable project. But, most probably, you’ll just be bewildered and bored out of your mind. There is a tiny bit of worthwhile wisdom, and it does provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse into a strange world of entertainment that apparently really does exist. Truth be told, The Prairie Home Companion probably delivers pretty much as advertised. But, as for who might actually be in the market for weird, antiquated showmanship, rest assured that we have no idea.
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