Pajiba

WHY, why, why did they have to put Lohan in this? I will not support this movie's box-office because of this person, just like I did with MI3 and that idiot.

Might rent it when it comes out on Dvd.

You know, it's a shame about Lohan's personal life, because I have always enjoyed her acting. I think she's one of a few young actresses that can actually act; if she can get her off-screen life together and quit thinking that just because she's young she has to be in a perpetual party stupor where she dates every living, breathing, celebrity-wannabe male, she could have a long career ahead of her. I hope Meryl or some of the other more seasoned actresses can take her aside and give her a clue. And I hope she listens.
In other news, great review as usual, Jeremy. I really liked the analysis of Meryl Streep - I think it's spot on.

I have no idea why people think they can believe stories that are written about celebrities in the tabloids, and I think it's a shame that these stories should affect anyone's enjoyment of a film. In my experience, gossip seldom bears any resemblance to reality.

You've sold your readers short on this review by not doing your homework on the subject. Your mechanical reporting of actors and director has completely missed the rich history and culture around PHC. It's as if you've described a come-from-behind, World Series-winning grand slam as "the batter hit the ball over the fence." Or the thrill of driving a Ferrari by saying "it goes fast."

If I were your editor, you'd be redoing this one. This time with a little effort.

"...what they want to do is simply to capture a moment in time that never took place".

Beautiful. This is why I keep coming back to Pajiba.

Don't be such a cock, Dave.

Dave,
I know nothing about the history and culture of PHC. But I do think it's a little harsh to expect that of Jeremy. He's reviewing the movie - not providing commentary on PHC in general. He admits to not knowing much about it, and I don't get the sense that PHC is part of popular culture, or common knowledge. Maybe it will be due to the release of the film.


OTOH, I could be biased because I think Jeremy's reviews are well done and thought-provoking, even when I don't agree with them.

All right, Dave. When can we read your ten page extravaganza on Fibber McGee and Molly? My heart is absolutely twitterpating in anticipation.

Can someone cite for me a film Lohan's been in that give her the "come on, she's a good actress" cred that people are giving her? If you're talking about the Parent Trap, she was a kid then, and we've seen time and time again that kid actors don't always translate to a competent adult actor....
Anyway, little help anyone?

Great review, Jeremy.

I really don't care about Lohan's off screen life. I certainly don't allow it to keep me from enjoying a movie, and really I found her entertaining in Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. I'm really looking forward to this movie as I love Tomlin and Streep, and I have enjoyed the radio show on occasion.

Ray.... I think I might love you.

Re: Lohan

Good actress? I guess it's questionable, but maybe those who are arguing that she's NOT haven't watched Freaky Friday. Granted, it's a silly kid movie, but I can't help but love it--and Lohan moves seamlessly between the role of Miss PuNk RaWk and soccer mom. Her acting is generally exaggerated and over-the-top...but I have yet to see her in a movie that doesn't require that kind of acting. If she handles PHC well, then she's proved she can do it, eh?

"I don't get the sense that PHC is part of popular culture, or common knowledge"

What esteemed community college did you go to?

Garrison Keilor and PHC are as much a part of American popular culture as Kermit the Frog and the Ruby Slippers.

Stop listening to Clear Channel Radio for a day and see the world.

I can't wait for the Fibber McGee and Molly movie to come out. I heard that Ice T and Jessica Alba are attached.

Until today, I never knew that there was such a thing as an NPR snob. Now I know. Thanks, Dave and Szig.

prairie home companion is a well written radio program that is very funny and intelligently acted. meryl streep is awesome and i want to see the movie because she is in it. lily tomlin never really does much for me except that i like her candid interviews and i remember watching her as a kid in that giant rocking chair playing a character called edith ann. lindsay lohan will celebrate her 20th birthday this month, and it may be premature to say anything about her or her acting abilities considering she hasnt ahd a chance to really accomplish anything other than portray quirky kids in 1 dimensional movies and be a budding tabloid queen. hopefully her life will sort itself out and she will be able to put to use the potential she obviously has.
i will pay my 9.50 to see this movie. the fact that jeremy didnt say it completely sucked and that it in fact is a pleasant movie to watch is a much needed change from all the crap that has been released lately.

Christine and others, I can clear up the NPR snob thing.

I live in OR, but grew up in IL and went to college in Minenapolis. PHC is culturally sound to midwesterners, but coastal people probably don't know much about it, and I doubt any of them know all the words to "Red River Valley" (even if it is about Virginia)

And as for no NPR snobs, geeze, every person I've ever met who listens to it is always bragging about it, much like PBSheads.

As for the review, I thought it was good, but I do disgaree. I fell asleep half an hour into the movie, only waking up to the woman behind me who thought the funniest joke on earth is:

"two penguins are sitting on an iceburg. One say to the other 'I almost thought you were wearing a tux' the other says 'what makes you think I'm not?'"

If you think that's great, this is the movie for you.

Imagine a review of Flight 93 that started with "I'm not sure exactly what happened on 9/11 so I don't know how Americans will react..." Wouldn't you be highly suspect of the reviewer's ability to adequately judge the film's overall merit?

To me, admitting his lack of knowledge about PHC isn't an acceptable disclaimer. He could of exerted a little more effort in it's background so that, metaphorically speaking, if only one plane crashes into the tower, he could let us know the movie sucked. He didn't do that.

And it's a bit surprising that so many are so violently critical of critisism on a site based on critiques. Damn.

It's Jeremy's job to review the movie, not give the history of what it's based from. He said that it's based on some radio variety show. That's all most readers need to know.

However, if there are people who are interested in finding more about the radio show, then they can choose to tune in to NPR themselves, or to dig up more information on the internet.

Great review, Jeremy. I saw the movie on Friday night, and as someone who has listened to and loved PHC since I learned how to talk, I can say that it did justice to the radio program, but doesn't rely so heavily on knowledge of it that a person who had never heard it wouldn't love the movie.

There's no use in snobbery about it, anymore than there is about any other regio-culturally specific film. I love the program (and the movie) because its about the place where I come from (the Great Lakes portion of the Midwest). I'm not sure that a person who didn't grow up in that area of the country could understand the film in the same way as someone who did - a person who grew up in the South or the coasts might not personally know someone who acted, looked, and sounded exactly like Yolanda Johnson (Streep), but some one from Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan would probably be reminded of their next door neighbor or someone they knew from church. (Streep's performance is amazingly authentic - I think that if I ran into her on the street while she was in character I'd probably confuse her for one of my mother's friends.) It doesn't mean that someone from not-the-Midwest wouldn't get it though - or that they couldn't appreciate it at the same level as someone who was. It would, as we say here, just 'be different.'And that is the beauty of this film. It's culturally specific, and yet universal. Altman and Keillor did an amazing job, and Jeremy wrote a great review. : ) [Although, one more thing you should have mentioned - Meryl Streep has an AMAZING singing voice. That alone was worth the ticket price.]

Even though he confessed ignorance about the radio show, Jeremy's very next sentence reveals a sympathetic understanding of the show's appeal. To me, that's good enough to press forward with the review. I'd be surprised if many people who are under 30 and not from the Great Lakes region knew much about the show, anyway. It didn't appeal to me until age 35 or so, but now I'm a big fan.

I thought it was horrible.

And Garrison Keillor has a face only a mother could love.

"Imagine a review of Flight 93 that started with "I'm not sure exactly what happened on 9/11 so I don't know how Americans will react..." Wouldn't you be highly suspect of the reviewer's ability to adequately judge the film's overall merit?"

Ah Internet Hyperbole, my old nemesis, we meet again.

I mean really, are you saying that not knowing about an NPR variety radio show is the same as not knowing about 9/11? There are plenty of movie reviews of book adapttions that start off with "I never read the book..." and there's merit to seeing and then reviewing a movie without knowing the source material. I'm sure there are reviews out there by reviewers who either liked or disliked PHC, perhaps you should track them down instead of getting your panties in a bunch.

I'm from the Midwest, and although the name "Prairie Home Companion" rang a vague sort of bell when I heard about the movie, I definitely would not characterize it as being part of the pop culture lexicon, even for people from here. And no, I don't listen to NPR regularly, but I don't think that makes me ignorant or means that I need to "see the world." I just happen to like music in my car.

It's funny, on this site half the comments claim that the reviewers are pretentious assholes, and the other half ARE pretentious assholes. Well, except for the people that aren't. But you know what I mean.

i highly enjoyed a prairie home companion and 100% reccomend. it's been a long time since i laughed so hard during a movie...some parts were side-splitting (woody harrelson and john c.reilly) and some were touching (as when keillor re-tells the penguin joke to virginia madsen's character). altman is a film god and it will be a sad, sad day when he leaves us. as for performances, i thought lohan was good...i think she's a good actress period, it's just a shame that she does crap like just my luck. i enjoyed her performance, albeit, she has once again proved that she shouldn't sing....EVER.

Geez, I knew that after Jeremy professed ignorance of the NPR program, everyone would get all het up about it, on both sides.

I'm a longtime listener and fan of PHC (and I started listening to it while I was on the east coast, too - it does play on certain NPR stations there), and I thought the movie was perfectly able to be understood without ever having listened to the program. Honestly, it wouldn't be a successful film if it required you to be familiar with a certain canon in order to appreciate it. As a PHC listener I got more of the inside jokes, and perhaps was more touched by the film than a non-PHC listener would have been, but even if you'd never heard of PHC before now I still think you would be able to enjoy the film.

It's just a nicely written, solid little film that's admittedly rather sentimental, but in an honest sort of way. It's definitely not for everyone - it's relatively plotless, as Jeremy said, and there's very little action, so those of expecting MI:3 or something of the sort will be sorely disappointed. It's simply not your stereotypical Hollywood production - and for that alone it was worth every single cent of the ticket price.

I thought Lohan did a nice job. I actually empathized with her character - a first for me. If she does more films of the caliber I might actually start liking her again. Listen to Meryl, Lindsay!

And I definitely did not know that Meryl Streep had that gorgeous singing voice. Wow. And I completely agree with Jeremy's assessment of her recent roles - it seemed like she just had a lot of fun being Yolanda, and it's always nice to see actors having a good time in their roles.

Wait, when did listening to NPR make me a snob? *shrugs* I just like the nice, commercial free programming (although I do hate those ridiculous fund drives - all the time, I swear...). Guess that makes me an elitist in some people's books.

I think the movie was great. i think Lohan is a great actress, she blends in with all the other great ones liek Streep. I think Lohan's talent trully stands out which is why she is the highest actress in demand now. I think her future work will only get better.

Ha! Wolfman has nards! Oh wait, wrong review...

"What esteemed community college did you go to?"

This is why I don't listen to PHC. You think PHC is "the world?" Please. It's nostalgia for something that (thankfully) never existed. It gives me the cooties.

I wrote my thesis on Ulysses, by the way. Is that enough "intellectual" cred for you, you bloodless snobbo? Smart people who think GK should stick to writing sex advice columns, unite!

What a soul-sucker of a movie. I had to do jumping jacks to get my blood circulating again after the movie made a corpse out of me. I absolutely detest PHC on NPR for its monotone daft midwestern folksy poo and i have to immediately turn it off because something about it just makes my skin crawl. that being said, I was willing to give the movie a shot since there are visuals and not just the auditory horrors of the radio show. nope. this movie plays exactly as the radio show does, so if you can stand the show for more than 15 seconds, you might like the movie. but if you aren't on midwestern biscuit-baking time, this movie will drive you completely nuts. and i agree about garrison-what a face he has to go with his infuriating pokiness- its like a bad mushroom trip.

"This is why I don't listen to PHC. You think PHC is "the world?" Please. It's nostalgia for something that (thankfully) never existed. It gives me the cooties. "

Thanks, She. Haven't heard the word 'cooties' in a while. :) Also, it's not the reviewer's job to give us the entire low-down on the history behind PHC. He saw the movie and wrote a good review. Job over.

"Garrison Keilor and PHC are as much a part of American popular culture as Kermit the Frog and the Ruby Slippers."

I'm sorry, I just can't buy this. I live in IL and most people I know had no idea as to what this movie was about, or what PHC even was. I think the definition of American popular culture that you're using may be a bit different from mine...

"I'm sorry, I just can't buy this. I live in IL and most people I know had no idea as to what this movie was about, or what PHC even was. I think the definition of American popular culture that you're using may be a bit different from mine..."

I agree with you. I've never heard of Garrison Keilor and PHC until I read this review, and I've lived in California pretty much my whole life. Hell, I started listening to NPR recently during my commutes to work and I still haven't heard this show on the radio.

PHC doesn't air during the week in most markets, and I doubt it airs during drive time anywhere -- it usually airs on weekend mornings. And since NPR doesn't do ads, the only way to hear about it, even while listening to a station that airs it, is the very occasional promo by the local station.

PHC far predates our present conception of popular culture -- for 30+ years there's been no effort made towards ad-soaking, cross-marketing, blah blah blah. Its audience has to find it, either by word of mouth or chance. I only discovered it once my Sunday mornings transitioned from restaurant work or friends' couches to coffee and the newspaper at home.

So I'd venture to say that most people who haven't heard about it would probably find it lame. Heck, I find it lame sometimes. But Keillor has grown on me, and there's something about the sonorous pace of the show that makes his occasional political jabs so much more effective than someone who's cranked up to 11 all the time. And bluegrass kicks ass.

OK, thus ends my impassioned defense of the show. Have at it.

Thanks to all who have posted about not knowing of PHC. Szig took an unnecessarily cheap shot (at me, I assume, since he or she quoted my comments) because, apparently, PHC is the world to him or her. I suppose that's his or her choice, but acting like a snobbish asshole did nothing to persuade me to find out more about it. I may disagree with Dave, but at least he showed some class about his perspective. Thanks to those familiar with PHC who chose not to insult others' intelligence, and instead decided to provide some actual insight and perspective.

Can't wait to see it this weekend! I'm not at all surprised that Meryl is great in this role. She actually stepped out of her "Queen of Foreign Accents" phase a while ago, with Postcards from the Edge (which I loved). She was very natural and funny as Carrie Fisher's pseudo-autobiographical character, without actually doing a Carrie Fisher schtick. She did a sort-of-cheeseball country song called "I'm Steppin' Out", but she sang it beautifully, and even now I hum it sometimes when the random information in my brain breaks free.

I also loved her in the sole action movie that she did, The River Wild. Nooooobody saw that movie, and it isn't great, but it was exciting, unusual, and worth a rental. She clearly had fun with her role as the intrepid river guide heroine, and I'm sure she was relieved that she didn't have to do a Polish accent.

Lohan was great in Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. She can act. She just needs to learn how to not be a crackhead.

Thanks to all of you for your very informative comments. As a Canadian I have nooo idea what PHC is as a radio show (is it on CBC?) and this thread has been most interesting. It's an Altman film, so I'm there, but it's nice to have a little back story to enrich the experience.

And Daphne, I loved Postcards too. Now I have the song stuck in my head.

"PHC doesn't air during the week in most markets, and I doubt it airs during drive time anywhere -- it usually airs on weekend mornings."

Worse than that, PHC is generally broadcast live, by the stations that do carry it, on Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. Central. I discovered it by accident back in the 80s and am sometimes in the right mood for its gentle style and humor. But it's not exactly the soundtrack for getting ready for a Saturday night, unless your Saturday night includes baking or sitting in a rocking chair.

I have never heard PHC live (I live in Canada) but have been a fan for decades through GK's books. If you want an idea of just how big he is, do a google (4,700,000 entries) or amazon search. There are dozen's of audio PHC releases. Why? because they sell like crazy. Someone out there must know about Keillor and PHC to sell the number of books (printed and audio) he does.

What's going on? My comments (about Meryl and The River Wild and such) got credited to Daphne and some stuff about being insulted by some random poster named Szig was credited to me. Is it the server change?

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing!


BTW, MaiGirl, I liked Meryl in River Wild as well. Must have been the server switch....or it's a conspiracy! :)

Publisher's Note: Sorry, Daphne/Mai Girl. It was, in fact, the server switch. Those were the only two comments I had to recreate, and wouldn't you know I'd screw it up. Apologies all around; and I liked Meryl in River Wild, too.

Despite the fact that PHC is as American as apple pie, it's pretty much almost as boring as green bean casserole if you haven't catched it on NPR during the weekend, count yourself lucky. I suppose it's good for nostalgia sake, but I rather see werewolves and vampires battle each other out a la Underworld then watch a film with Lindsay Lohan in it.

I appreciate that some people think PHC is an integral part of American culture, and some people (like me) have never and probably will never hear one of the original shows. Bear in mind, people, that many people going to this movie will probably fall into the latter category, especially given Lohan's box office draw, and a review written without much prior knowledge of the show may be just as useful, if not more so, than one written by a long-time Keillor disciple. No need to get huffy on either side.

Altman scares me, though... I loved Nashville and Gosford Park, but I've never been quite able to forgive him for the embarrassing "Popeye" of 1980 (yes folks, that's a MUSICAL adaptation of the CARTOON with ROBIN WILLIAMS) and any movie of his involving a song-and-dance aspect makes me want to run and hide. Not sure where I stand on this one.

alas, this is how much 'everyone' cares about this movie... You can't even find it on any bootleg torrent sites for download (no one cared enuff to take a cam into the theatre, or likewise, never bothered to visit the theatre...).

My family bought one of Keillor's early books and I read a little of it. I don't hate it, but it didn't stir up any response. I'm sure that if you grew up in a place that didn't have trees or yards or lakes or a view of more than a street-wide swath of sky it makes for quite an escape to an idyllic world of simpler problems. For me, having actually grown up in the midwest, it's sort of like my life with most of the interesting parts taken out told by a fairly clever story teller. As far as I've ever noticed, this was a flavor-of-the-month in the early eighties when the intelligentsia were taking a break from world beats and rainforest crunch (which I ate plenty of, by the way, so don't jump to any conclusions). I was shocked when I ran into it on the radio again a year or two ago, and I'm equally shocked that it could build the momentum to break the big screen.

I think Dave's issue might be with the fact that he feels like the reviewer should have familiarized himself more with the show that the entire movie is *about*, before reviewing the movie. I have to agree. No, you don't need to be a slavering fan of NPR or PHC to get the movie (or the review), but to treat the show offhandedly, like a random bit of cultural flotsam, renders the review a bit shallow.

Imagine reviewing "The X-Men III" without ever having seen the other two, or read the comics, or looked at any comic books ever.

How can your judgment of the movie be really sound if you don't understand its context, or expose yourself to the source material?

I think it's the opposite of snobbish to expect a reviewer to do that. It seems only fair.

In my mind, this movie was like watching a Cracker Barrel coming to life.

I used to listen to A Prairie Home Companion on Sunday nights on a Toronto radio station while doing the long drive back home from my girlfriend's place. The show always made me feel...cozy would be the best word to describe it. It like a pleasant trip down a memory lane collectively owned by anyone with an ounce of nostalgia for the bygone days of radio entertainment. The film, for me, has captured this feeling brilliantly and given it new colour. It's nice to watch a movie, laugh at a joke and take that nostalgic sigh after the laughter's done. This movie has more heart than any movie I've seen in a long time. It gives you a feeling of ease and comfort like a roaring fire in your old family cabin.

I saw the film in New York because it was showing at the cinema hall next door, and because it was Altman's latest ; I have a vague idea of who Keillor was but never read any of his books, nor listened to his show ; but, hell ! A film is a film. If it's good, it has universal appeal. I for one loved this one, although I was born and bred in Paris : and Pajiba's review fairly expresses my views, being a review of the film. Now I'm ready for a bit of context ; I was delighted to catch a bit of the (actual ?) show a few days later on TV, and Meryl Streep crying her eyes out while singing with the audience.

rip mr. altman

Saw the movie last week. My wife walked out after the first hour. My daughter and I stayed until the end waiting for some sensible means of tying the whole thing together. Such means never comes. In the end, we agreed that it is the worst movie we have ever seen. I am not familiar with PHC and can not imagine how such familiarity could morph this into any semblence of a quality film.

Stick to Disney.

Lots and lots and lots of morons in this thread. Let's crown one and be done with it. PHC is NOT "pop culture", idiot, at least not in the traditional sense. But to say it's not part of American lexicon is truly moronic. Go check out the sales figures for just the book alone and then go crawl under a rock so we can't see your red face.

Most of the tools slamming this movie and it's inspiration remind me of the guys who are convinced that they're gangstas in South Central LA even though they've been stuck in Providence, RI their entire lives and are too miserably weak to get out.

Get your heads out of your asses and turn off MTV and you might find that there actually is a world out there.

The movie is touching and tender because it handles a situation that for most people would send them into mournful hysterics.

Apparently, the people who "hate" this movie are so self-centered, egotistic and bereft of humanity that they don't have the capacity to actually love something or someone nor have they ever done something beautiful for anyone unless there was a big payola at the end of the rainbow.

Go die in a friggin' fire you losers.

That's what the movie is about. Do you honestly think that the people portrayed in it were looking for fame and fortune? That's the whole point. They did it for the love of the show. Such idealism is never really compensated as displayed by the jackasses that posted their ignorant comments on here.

Finally saw this on HBO HD last night and liked it a lot. Made me miss Altman and wonder why I like Meryl Streep so much more lately than I used to. Kevin Kline was excellent. I don't know what his character was doing but he seemed to be a daft cousin of Kline's crazed killer in "A Fish Called Wanda". Not even Lohan could take the movie down, although I bet half the young actresses in Hollywood were cursing her besotted name for getting the opportunity to work with that cast. It would make a good double feature with "A Mighty Wind".