Like any good Altman ensemble should be, the acting is uniformly top-notch without any one performer upstaging the rest. The film radiates joy, suggesting the actors had a great time during the shoot. This year’s Oscar presentation by Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin gave a small taste of how funny the two are together. Rarely do two actresses complement each other so well. Similarly, Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly bicker continually but with a comfortingly pleasant demeanor about them. Kevin Kline, as always, is a pleasure to watch. If a lesser actor had attempted the role, the character might have felt completely out of place instead of ironically appropriate. Tommy Lee Jones plays a brusque pragmatic with such ease that I have to wonder how closely this resembles his own personality. Meanwhile, Lindsay Lohan reminds us that she is in fact a good actress and not just a tabloid headline with her performance as Streep’s daughter, Lola, a depressed teenager who writes poetry about a suicide.

Altman fans will be taken off guard by just how sentimental A Prairie Home Companion is. Bucking his trend as an unflinching cynic, the film is a laconic lament about the passing of radio. There is some occasional dark humor but an inescapable sentimentality runs throughout. If anything, the cynicism is incorporated by Keillor, whose radio show is an enormous success in reality, chooses to tell a fictional story envisioning its demise.

Not all of the humor works in the film. A lengthy scene of Keillor stalling with the Sound Effects Man falls on deaf ears. He also incorporates a few scenes that feel more like fulfilling personal fantasies than honest to the story; his sing-song nostalgia with Lohan and his past relationship with Streep’s character in particular. But there’s an undeniable joy surrounding the production and a lot of fun to be had watching this film. Non-fans of country music need not be hesitant about going. While I wouldn’t necessarily listen to this kind of music on my own accord, the performances are so engaging that they render the songs completely accessible. Each song, like the film itself, is an infectious medley of energy and elation from start to finish. The characters thrive on the rush from performing on stage and that’s why they refuse to acknowledge it will be coming to an end. Judging by these performances, it appears the actors felt the same way.

Movie Grade: B+

Synopsis:

A Prairie Home Companion is a fictionalized account of Garrison Keillor's award-winning show, which currently runs on more than 558 public radio stations. The film follows the show's cast of characters preparing for the final live broadcast on the eve of being shut down after 30 years. As passions erupt, secrets emerge and a mysterious stranger lurks in the shadows, the vigilant stage manager must hold it all together since the "show must go on".