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Movie Overview
Cast
• Woody Harrelson
• John C. Reilly
• Tommy Lee Jones
Director
• Robert Altman
MPAA Rating
PG-13 - for risque humor
A Prairie Home Companion (2006)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
OFCS Rating: 79% Fresh
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"'A Prairie Home Companion' makes us laugh and care and cry with characters who never say die."  ReelTalk Movie Reviews  Betty Jo Tucker

7/10
"A meandering, breezy yarn, Robert Altman's unabashedly cornball adaptation accomplished something that few films have been able to pull off: it actually made me homesick. "  Freeze Dried Movies  Brian Juergens

C-
"Keillor has managed to tamper with his homegrown formula in ways that will put the casual viewer to sleep and perhaps confuse his fervent fanbase to a point of complete disinterest."  FilmJerk.com  Brian Orndorf

3.5/5
"A perplexingly kooky comedy about death, [it] manages to do what Altman has almost never done before: allow a different artist their own voice."  ToxicUniverse.com  Chris Barsanti

C-
""A Prairie Home Companion" is a cringe-worthy Robert Altman movie because it lacks all traces of the director's former glory. You could blame Garrison Keillor but that would be giving him too much credit."  ColeSmithey.com  Cole Smithey

"You might call A Prairie Home Companion an unlikely Lindsay Lohan movie. You could also call it the best work she's done, the best work she's likely to do, or the best chance she's had to do good work."  PopMatters  Cynthia Fuchs

80/100
"Plenty of artistry, even if it is a minor Altman film. So long, Robert."  Cinemania  Dan Jardine

3/5
"It's a testament to Altman and his cast that they can take a script this lousy and get just enough charm out of it to get by."  eFilmCritic.com  David Cornelius

A-
"When Altman lets it be like the radio show, the film couldn't be more heavenly as it becomingly glides along with its sweetly laced nostalgia bromide."  Ozus' World Movie Reviews  Dennis Schwartz

"This reminder to love life as if 'every show is the last show' sparkles like its opening night sky. "  ReelTalk Movie Reviews  Donald J. Levit

3/4
"Gets big laughs in its clever, rapid-fire delivery and finds beauty and wisdom within its narrative simplicity."  TheMovieBoy.com  Dustin Putman

3/4
"Altman's graceful camera, the movement of characters across the frame, and the overlapping voices collectively evoke a genial sense of place."  Slant Magazine  Ed Gonzalez

A
"With APHC, quite possibly the iconoclastic filmmaker's final work, Altman becomes reflective, melancholy and, most surprising of all, sentimental."  FilmJerk.com  Edward Havens

2/5
"La despedida de Robert Altman no está entre lo mejor de su obra, pero es una cálida evocación de tiempos y ritos pasados animada por un atractivo elenco."  Uruguay Total  Enrique Buchichio

B-
"Keillor's fans will probably consider the film a masterwork, while Altman's people will file it away as one of the director's average efforts."  EricDSnider.com  Eric D. Snider

B+
"Pleasant, almost calming, a reverie of mood and character I could easily enter more than once."  Film Blather  Eugene Novikov

3/4
"Altman se despide de este mundo con una muestra más de su principal talento cinematográfico: crear obras que parecen tener vida propia, gracias a su marcado rostro humano."  Doncinema.com  Flavio J. Arosemena

C
"A thin, ephemeral conceit...a bit like a ballet dancer wearing cement shoes."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

5/5
"A fine and funny entertainment that also gives us a keen sense of the impermanence of all creative endeavors and the fleeting nature of reality. "  Spirituality and Practice  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

2.5/4
"Despite a folksy, low-key appeal, this movie is likely to primarily interest fans of Garrison Keillor's popular radio program."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

2/4
"It looks and feels like an Altman film, but one made completely on a pointless lark"  Perihelion Journal  Jay Antani

2.5/4
" An uneven yarn of pregnant pauses punctuated by charm."  Palo Alto Weekly  Jeanne Aufmuth

8/10
"An appreciation of artists, albeit a sadder one... perhaps [Altman]'s saying here that the end doesn't have to be bitter -- it can be bittersweet."  Window to the Movies  Jeffrey Chen

"Altman doesn’t do much here that he hasn’t done before -- and much of it better -- but he does it with such ease and élan that it’s impossible not to get caught up in it all."  Pajiba  Jeremy C. Fox

5/10
"There's no plot per se, just a bunch of people yappin' on about old times..."  JoBlo's Movie Emporium  JoBlo

6/10
"...essentially a sentimental musical comedy, with the barest rudiments of a story lingering in the background."  DVDTown.com  John J. Puccio

"What Altman and Keillor, who plays himself, have done is create a believable piece of radio drama on the big screen..."  Light Views  John Larsen

4.5/5
"As one who eschews Altman, I am glad that I saw this movie ...It speaks to a part of me that I forget exists, and one that I value in myself, and it's a well-orchestrated bit of filmmaking as well."  Cinerina  Karina Montgomery

1.5/5
"It's Lindsay Lohan who appears relaxed rather than desperate to be funny."  Film-Forward.com  Kent Turner

B+
"It's often those small, tossaway moments - Keillor reviewing script unabashed in his underpants, Streep cheekily yipping extra 'ees' out of a sung 'prairie,' that make it special."  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

2.5/4
"Overall, the film falls into some comforting cocoon midway between affectionate spoof and adoring homage, much like Keillor's warmly nostalgic show."  TV Guide's Movie Guide  Maitland McDonagh

6/10
"The movie is a lot like everything Keillor does, reliable and pleasant, but nothing very exciting or even remarkable. It is the cinematic equivalent of a dish of vanilla ice cream."  rec.arts.movies.reviews  Mark R. Leeper

3/4
"The movie is as enjoyable as the broadcast, and it's cheaper than going to a live show"  Movie Habit  Marty Mapes

"The gentle satire of Garrison Keillor's beloved radio variety show gets an extra kick of self-reflective snark in Robert Altman's pleasantly meandering tribute/reimagining."  Flick Filosopher  MaryAnn Johanson

3/4
"I can't necessarily say that I'd be more inclined to listen to the show [on the radio], but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it on the big screen."  Aisle Seat  Mike McGranaghan

B+
"Keillor may be the only one in history to keep happy both the sentimentalists who love Kinkade and the cynics who love po-mo happy, each thinking they're the only ones who really get him."  Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies  Nell Minow

B+
"The iconic 81-year-old auteur's own attempt at confronting both his advancing age and his legacy."  Lessons of Darkness  Nick Schager

5/5
"Poucos cineastas têm ou tiveram a oportunidade de se despedir com tamanha graça e charme de seus fãs... algo que Altman conseguiu com este filme simultaneamente melancólico e alegre."  Cinema em Cena  Pablo Villaca

4/5
"This ode to a bygone style of entertainment is a fitting swan song for Altman."  Shadows on the Wall  Rich Cline

B
"A whimsical, good-natured, humorous, gentle movie about death."  Laramie Movie Scope  Robert Roten

B+
"This is the kind of entertainment that will get the over-50 crowd out of their Lazy Boys and into the theater"  Reeling Reviews  Robin Clifford

8/10
"The world's tallest shy comedian floats out of the radio with a power cast that even Altman is challenged to harness."  Monsters and Critics  Ron Wilkinson

"Altman enjoys the company of the characters and their swirl of sweet-and-sour chemistry but has little luck creating any drama from the situation..."  GreenCine  Sean Axmaker

3.5/4
"A beautiful farewell party, one that balances drama and comedy with ample, unexpected heart."  Charlotte Weekly  Sean O'Connell

"Whatever A Prairie Home Companion has to say about aging, about death, about the mutability of art, is never stated outright: And yet it's all there in the picture's rambunctious collage of moods."  Salon.com  Stephanie Zacharek

9/10
"An amusing, evocative, endearing, nostalgic glimpse of down-home Americana."  Modamag.com  Susan Granger

"Click here to see review"  Wolf Entertainment Guide  William Wolf

3.5/4
Read review  Big Picture Big Sound  Joe Lozito
OFCS Rating: 79% Fresh
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