Robert Altman’s last film is an affectionate homage to a Midwestern tradition, employing his trademark multi-stranded multi-character narrative including star turns from Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin.
Based on a screenplay by Garrison Keillor (who also stars), A Prairie Home Companion is a variety radio programme broadcast on public radio featuring a variety of musical acts, a crime series, fictional advertisements and an endless soap.
The film focuses on a single episode where the actors discover that their show has been axed and this is to be their final broadcast.
The show’s stalwart players do their best to carry on as normal dealing with the emotional fallout of losing their livelihoods.
In the meantime a mysterious stranger appears with news of her own. This is a loving and carefully crafted portrait of an era on the cusp of extinction featuring some fine singing from the main players and poignant observations on the passage of time by a director who retained all of his powers as a storyteller of distinction right until the end.