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Since I spent most of the years from childhood through college in Minnesota, and experienced many of the things and knew many of the kinds of people the radio show gently spoofs, I can instantly relate to the veracity and the humor of what Garrison Keillor and company broadcast each week. I really like the show. So I was really looking forward to the film, hoping it would capture the spirit and perhaps some of the content of the show.
Robert Altman has given us one strange movie in the form of a "day in the life" that is at once a music video, a character study with a mix of real and fictional characters, a reminisce about dysfunctional family relationships and a metaphysical musing on the meaning of life's mundane events. It isn't really a comedy although it has a lot of comic moments, and it really isn't serious drama, because it maintains a whimsical throw-away tone throughout. (To that extent, it does capture the spirit of the radio show.)
I enjoyed a lot of it, especially the music numbers and backstage banter, although if Garrison is as non-stop off-the-wall with musical riffs and "had to be there" humor in real life as he is in the movie, it would be very difficult to spend very much time with him without wondering if he is ever serious about anything. But that's not the part I didn't connect with (after all, it's a movie; they have to compress a lifetime of wit into a couple of hours).
Rather, it was the nod to film noir in the guise of the security guard who didn't really guard anything and the deux ex machina avenging angel of death that he was so enamored with that just didn't work for me. I realize that some critics thought that was what made the movie great, but although they are entitled to their opinion, they are wrong. These plot devices rendered the radio show as the McGuffin, but it was an artificial framework that didn't pay off.
So I still think it was worth watching and undoubtedly the elements I didn't particularly like are what will make this a cult classic, rather than the astonishingly realistic and entertaining portrayals of country singers (Altman has a "thing" about country music) by Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly among others.
As for the DVD, the picture quality is very good -- the image projects well, with eye popping colors in some scenes and muted tones and fine shadow details, (primarily "back stage"), in others. The surround sound was quite effective, with audience sounds and intercom announcements indicating they weren't in a two dimensional space. Dialog was notably clear all the way through.
I’d suggest renting it. If you strongly identify with its characters, or enjoy the stage performances or really like the plot contrivances enough to enjoy them more than once, then you can make a purchase, and the "Prarie Home" movie can be your "Companion" again and again.
Burke
Robert Altman has given us one strange movie in the form of a "day in the life" that is at once a music video, a character study with a mix of real and fictional characters, a reminisce about dysfunctional family relationships and a metaphysical musing on the meaning of life's mundane events. It isn't really a comedy although it has a lot of comic moments, and it really isn't serious drama, because it maintains a whimsical throw-away tone throughout. (To that extent, it does capture the spirit of the radio show.)
I enjoyed a lot of it, especially the music numbers and backstage banter, although if Garrison is as non-stop off-the-wall with musical riffs and "had to be there" humor in real life as he is in the movie, it would be very difficult to spend very much time with him without wondering if he is ever serious about anything. But that's not the part I didn't connect with (after all, it's a movie; they have to compress a lifetime of wit into a couple of hours).
Rather, it was the nod to film noir in the guise of the security guard who didn't really guard anything and the deux ex machina avenging angel of death that he was so enamored with that just didn't work for me. I realize that some critics thought that was what made the movie great, but although they are entitled to their opinion, they are wrong. These plot devices rendered the radio show as the McGuffin, but it was an artificial framework that didn't pay off.
So I still think it was worth watching and undoubtedly the elements I didn't particularly like are what will make this a cult classic, rather than the astonishingly realistic and entertaining portrayals of country singers (Altman has a "thing" about country music) by Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly among others.
As for the DVD, the picture quality is very good -- the image projects well, with eye popping colors in some scenes and muted tones and fine shadow details, (primarily "back stage"), in others. The surround sound was quite effective, with audience sounds and intercom announcements indicating they weren't in a two dimensional space. Dialog was notably clear all the way through.
I’d suggest renting it. If you strongly identify with its characters, or enjoy the stage performances or really like the plot contrivances enough to enjoy them more than once, then you can make a purchase, and the "Prarie Home" movie can be your "Companion" again and again.
Burke
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