A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
74%RT Audience Score: 59%
Awards & Nominations: 5 wins & 21 nominations
The final film by the great Robert Altman, A Prairie Home Companion, the big screen adaptation of Garrison Keillor’s radio broadcast showcases plenty of the director’s strengths: it’s got a gigantic cast and plenty of quirky acting and dialogue
A Prairie Home Companion is like a warm hug from your favorite grandparent – it’s comforting, familiar, and full of heart. The cast of talented performers bring the whimsical world of Garrison Keillor’s radio show to life, and Meryl Streep’s country crooning is a standout. Sure, there’s not much of a plot, but who needs one when you’re having this much fun? It’s a celebration of creativity, community, and the joy of making art with the people you love. So sit back, relax, and let A Prairie Home Companion transport you to a simpler time where the corny jokes are aplenty and the music is always playing.
Production Company(ies)
Highline Pictures, Camera One Endless Picnic
Distributor
Picturehouse
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Fitzgerald Theater – 10 Exchange Street E., St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for risque humor
Year of Release
2006
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:SDDS Dolby Digital DTS
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 12.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 45m
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Language(s):English, Norwegian
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jun 9, 2006 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 25, 2006
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
A Prairie Home Companion, PG-13, Comedy, Robert Altman, Garrison Keillor, Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, Woody Harrelson, Kevin Kline, Lily Tomlin, Tommy Lee Jones, Wren Arthur, Joshua Astrachan, Tony Judge, David Levy, Picturehouse, $20.3M, reviewed by Matthew Leyland, Philip French, David Edelstein, Geoff Andrew, Sandra Hall, Andrew Sarris, Peter Sobczynski, David Walsh, Mike Massie, Mattie Lucas, Joel Siegel, Kevin Kline as Guy Noir, Meryl Streep as Yolanda Johnson, Lindsay Lohan as Lola Johnson, Woody Harrelson as Dusty, Garrison Keillor as GK, Lily Tomlin as Rhonda Johnson, SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby SRD, Scope (2.35:1), private investigator, radio show, final broadcast, demolition, Texas axe-man, ensemble cast, quirky acting, dialogue, warm, dignified, Midwestern whimsy, stoicism, music, corny jokes, creative community, solidarity, kindness
Worldwide gross: $25,986,497
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $38,321,172
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,452
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 4,178,972
US/Canada gross: $20,342,852
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $29,998,731
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,274
US/Canada opening weekend: $4,566,293
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $6,733,716
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,045
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $10,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $14,746,571
Production budget ranking: 1,523
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $7,941,028
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $15,633,573
ROI to date (est.): 69%
ROI ranking: 1,066
Lindsay Lohan – Lola Johnson
Kevin Kline – Guy Noir
Woody Harrelson – Dusty
Garrison Keillor – GK
Lily Tomlin – Rhonda Johnson
Director(s)
Robert Altman
Writer(s)
Garrison Keillor
Producer(s)
Robert Altman, Wren Arthur, Joshua Astrachan, Tony Judge, David Levy
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 21 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (199) | Top Critics (55) | Fresh (161) | Rotten (38)
It’s a warm and dignified end to a sometimes erratic but often enthralling career.
January 9, 2007
Matthew Leyland
BBC.com
TOP CRITIC
It’s a lovely and loving film.
January 6, 2007
Philip French
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
The movie, redolent of death, is a sort of wake, but a funny-sad one, teeming with music, corny jokes, and an ensemble of gifted performers who appear to be having an obscene amount of fun in one another’s company.
January 6, 2007
David Edelstein
New York Magazine/Vulture
TOP CRITIC
Just lovely, and a magnificently enjoyable coda to an extraordinary career.
January 4, 2007
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
A celebration of show business at its purest and most joyful.
October 8, 2006 | Rating: 4.5/5
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
It sparkles with a magic all its own as an engagingly performed piece of Midwestern whimsy and stoicism. Mr. Altman’s flair for ensemble spectacle and seamless improvisation in the midst of utter chaos is as apparent as ever.
June 14, 2006
Andrew Sarris
Observer
TOP CRITIC
Altman conducts all of these disparate elements in a manner that simultaneously suggests both a practiced veteran and an eager newcomer. He calls upon all of his still-undiminished skills while staying agog with the possibilities to achieve.
June 9, 2021
Peter Sobczynski
The Spool
A Prairie Home Companion exudes a general warmth and foolishness, favors the chaos of a creative community, argues for some sort of elemental human and artistic solidarity and kindness-and aside from that, not much.
February 14, 2021
David Walsh
World Socialist Web Site
Contains not even the faintest trace of a plot.
November 21, 2020 | Rating: 2/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
A warm, witty ode to ends, beginnings and everything in between.
June 5, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4
Mattie Lucas
The Dispatch (Lexington, NC)
There is a great movie in A Prairie Home Companion, which is based on Garrison Keillor’s long-running radio show. Meryl Streep gives an amazing performance as a country singer.
January 5, 2018 | Rating: B-
Joel Siegel
Good Morning America
It’s remarkable how charitable, on the whole, this movie feels; in all of the previous examples, the vision of pop and people is at best tangled, at worst jaundiced.
March 5, 2014
Nick Pinkerton
Stop Smiling…
Plot
A final live variety show broadcast via radio becomes a metaphor for the natural order of life. A concept and script by Garrison Keilor uses every natural and technical element of working with a tight and close ensemble producing a weekly show to sooth us and guide us through the natural but difficult transitions of aging, becoming less relevant and then dying as new, young life develops and strengthens during our final “performances.” This is a rare film for it’s remarkable cast and crew and one wonders how the great Robert Altman was able to gather them all at the same place and time to shoot this film.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The all-star cast of A Prairie Home Companion includes Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, Woody Harrelson, and Tommy Lee Jones.
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