Prairie Home Companion, A

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

What a lovely film this is, so gentle and whimsical, so simple and profound.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

A down-home-exquisite musical dramedy.

Film Threat Don R. Lewis

The songs in the film are a blast and John C. Reilly and Woody Harrelson share one of the funniest singing moments onscreen ever.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Both magical and consistently joyous. The director, Robert Altman, and the writer, Garrison Keillor, have, against all odds, transmuted the fatigued public radio institution into a lovely fable about mortality, fleeting fame, fondness for the past and the ineffable beauty of life in the present.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Not since Woody Allen's "Radio Days" has anyone created such a cinematic Valentine to the wonderfully imaginative medium of radio as A Prairie Home Companion.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Rib-ticklingly funny at times and genial as all get-out.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Sometimes you forget how great an actor is, then he or she is reborn in an Altman movie.

Village Voice Rob Nelson

Keillor's modest subservience to Altman's group dynamic feels downright gallant, and in the context of the veteran director's most humanistic movie by a wide margin, it certainly has its rewards.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

It's not a perfect movie, and it does not aspire to be a great one. It's just wonderful.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

At the age of 81, Altman may show signs of mellowing, but he again emerges as a master filmmaker.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Take a swig of this moonshine. There's magic in it.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

As for this film's esteemed director, I don't remember getting such sheer pleasure out of an Altman movie since . . . hmm, lemme look at the filmo . . . hmm—"The Player"? Not so much . . . "O.C. and Stiggs"? I wish . . . Um, "Popeye"? More likely, but . . . Ah-"A Wedding." Yeah, that’s it, "A Wedding." Whoa. That was, like, almost 30 years ago.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

A meditation on death that has you humming to the melody and laughing at the joke -- it's an elegiac picture that refuses to eulogize.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Altman and Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion is fittingly both a celebration and a winning example of the joys of collaboration.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Streep and Tomlin are so attuned to each other that it's as if they had worked together all of their lives. In fact, it's their first time. Streep has become a wonderfully soulful comedian; Tomlin always was one.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

What sustains the film is the performers' belief in their shaggy-dog selves, which is more than just talent - it's faith.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

For a film about death and endings, A Prairie Home Companion is a cracking good time - a warm, golden bauble within which to shelter, like the radio show that inspired it, from the misery and ennui that engulf us in and out of the multiplex.

Slate Michael Agger

With a theatrical setting, a large ensemble cast, and musical numbers, Altman and his crew are in their own tailored version of heaven.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Kline's combination of pratfalls and urbanity is funny, but it rubs against the rest of the movie's effortless rustic charm. He's like Errol Flynn on a hayride.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

It's a breezy, homespun, relaxing thing...watching this laid-back picture feels, oddly enough, like a vacation from movies.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

People unfamiliar with either man may think Altman is mocking Keillor and his 32-year-old radio program here. But, it is pure affection, and the movie is as much up-tempo, irresistible fun to watch as the show is to hear.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Like his recent, elegant dance film "The Company," A Prairie Home Companion will appeal especially to those who are not story-dependent. Altman's sidewinding tribute to a surprisingly hardy 32-year-old public radio phenomenon is like a 105-minute putter in the garden, with a few songs and some jokes.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

As it stands, it entertains quite a bit, frustrates too much, and leaves you feeling slightly undernourished, like a meal of tasty but not filling hors d'oeuvres.

The New Yorker David Denby

A Prairie Home Companion has many lovely and funny moments, but there's not a lot going on. Dramatically, it's mellow to the point of inertia. There may not be any sweat, but there isn't any heat, either.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Good-humored and enormously entertaining but also sentimental and a little dishonest.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

It's by no means the greatest Altman, and not even a great Altman. And yet, even though it was written and conceived by Garrison Keillor -- as a fanciful fiction that draws on elements of his popular radio show -- it is somehow pure Altman.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Overall, the film falls into some comforting cocoon midway between affectionate spoof and adoring homage, much like Keillor's warmly nostalgic show.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

I'm not sure that the endearing charms of the assorted fogeys and whelps add up to a movie. But I always enjoy how Altman weaves the warp of professional life with the weft of the personal.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

It's a pleasant but insubstantial excuse for a film.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This combination of storytelling, singing, and corny comedy is sometimes a little too slow and long-winded for its own good, but at least the aftertaste isn't bitter.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

A Prairie Home Companion tries to embrace the spirit of that longtime radio series but suffocates the very qualities that make the original show so special in the first place.

Empire Angie Errigo

Not one of Altman’s masterpieces, but aficionados will find pleasures in a bittersweet swansong from the grand old man.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Gianni Truzzi

A beautiful angel of death (Virginia Madsen) meanders through the final broadcast, gracing beatitudes over the backstage romances and egg-salad sandwiches.

USA Today Claudia Puig

At its best, it's a gentle meditation on mortality. But at weaker moments it feels meandering and strangely empty.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

The result is at once familiar and disconcerting, meta-Keillor done in Altman's desultory, distracted style.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

At best, mildly entertaining.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Only the onstage performing has moments of lift, particularly Keillor's diabolically homespun monologues and the cowboys with their risqué jokes that are reminders of such outhouse reading as Captain Billy's Whiz Bang.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

This is not one of the good Altmans. This isn't even one of the mediocre Altmans.