A Prairie Home Companion.A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION Directed by Robert Altman (PictureHouse, 2006) Good Night, and Good Luck (Warner Independent) took us back to the early days of television with a morality tale about the duties of a free press--not merely to entertain and distract, but also to inform, educate, and question. In this movie translation of A Prairie Home Companion, the long-running National Public Radio program, Garrison Keillor is no Edward R. Murrow Noun 1. Edward R. Murrow - United States broadcast journalist remembered for his reports from London during World War II (1908-1965) Edward Roscoe Murrow, Murrow , and his old-fashioned radio show is clearly meant to entertain audiences listening for their weekly doses of Lake Wobegon. Still, amidst the nostalgic, amusing, and heartfelt entertainment of Robert Altman and Keillor's rendition of "the last radio show," one finds a sly but distinctly political message. They're raising a ballad for the common man and woman. Altman and Keillor are longstanding fans of the misfit mis·fit n. 1. Something of the wrong size or shape for its purpose. 2. One who is unable to adjust to one's environment or circumstances or is considered to be disturbingly different from others. , storytellers who build their narratives and ensemble casts from the fractured lives of small, imperfect people, folks unaccustomed to limelight, power, or wealth. And out of that marbled mar·bled adj. 1. Made of or covered with marble: a marbled façade. 2. Having a mix of fat and lean: a well-marbled beef roast. Adj. 1. humus humus (hy  `məs), organic matter that has decayed to a relatively stable, amorphous state. It is an important biological constituent of fertile soil. of warts and wrinkles they fashion odes to the virtues of common folk, offering populist sermons on the dangers of those distinctly American temptations to wealth and the arrogance of power. In this joint outing a small-town cast of aging performers puts on one last show, pulling down the curtain on a way of life that reaches back before the fall of the family farm or the rise of cable. Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin are a matching set of sweet and salty singing sisters with more memories than dreams. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor known for his ability to act in a dramatic or comedic role with ease. Biography Personal life play guitar-strumming cowpokes with a taste for raunchy raun·chy adj. raun·chi·er, raun·chi·est Slang 1. a. Obscene, lewd, or vulgar: "[He] jokes but no home on the range, and Kevin Kline's ex-private eye Guy Noir now guards the stage door against all manner of threats, including tycoon and show-stopper Tommy Lee Jones For the musician, see . Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an Academy Award-winning American actor and director. Biography Early life Jones was born in San Saba, Texas, the son of Clyde C. , who has come to bury rather than praise Keillor and gang. However the story ends, Altman and Keillor's sympathies are with the values that made America small and friendly, not big and powerful.--Patrick McCormick |
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