Prairie Home Companion

I've had the DVD for Robert Altman's Prairie Home Companion sitting around for a few weeks and I finally got around to looking at it last night. I'd seen this movie on a big screen and it holds up very well on my little wide-screen TV. Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin are wonderful together and I love how Altman has his cameras slide around almost as if they're evesdropping on the characters. And as I remember from the movie, I didn't much care for Lindsay Lohan as Meryl Streep's daughter. Something just doesn't ring true. And I'm afraid her singing just isn't up to the level of everyone else in the movie.

Sometimes I give the DVD extras a miss but I was glad that I had a look at the ones on this disc. In the movie, musical numbers are often cut short as the story moves backstage. However, the DVD includes quite a few numbers complete and a few musical numbers with the band that I don't even remember from the movie. The band is led by pianist, Rich Dworsky. He's a marvel. He and the other members of the band have worked with Garrison Keillor for a couple of decades at least. And it shows. If get a chance to watch the DVD, dig down into the menu and find these instrumental numbers. They're really terrific.