Line #34 Film/APrairieHomeCompanion


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_prairie_home_companion_poster.jpg]]
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3	''A Prairie Home Companion'' is Creator/RobertAltman's last film, released in 2006. [[SoundToScreenAdaptation Loosely adapted]] from Garrison Keillor's [[Radio/APrairieHomeCompanion radio variety show of the same name]],[[note]] Although familiarity with the radio show isn't necessary to follow the film, the characters of Guy Noir, Dusty and Lefty, and the Johnson Sisters, as well as the parody ads for such products as Beebop-a-Ree-Bop Rhubarb Pie and Powdermilk Biscuits, were fixtures of ''APHC'' for decades.[[/note]] it stars an EnsembleCast and Garrison Keillor AsHimself.
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5	Long-running radio variety show ''A Prairie Home Companion'', hosted by Garrison "G.K." Keillor, is performed live at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota; however, the station's parent company has sold the Fitzgerald to developers to demolish and replace with a car park, and they have sent "The Axeman" (Creator/TommyLeeJones) to determine whether to save or cancel the show.
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7	As PI Guy Noir (Creator/KevinKline) acts as security for what the audience don't know to be the show's final broadcast, the cast members reminisce and deal with various personal crises. Said cast members include the singing Johnson Sisters, Yolanda (Creator/MerylStreep) and Rhonda (Creator/LilyTomlin) and Yolanda's death-obsessed daughter Lola (Creator/LindsayLohan), singing "trail hands" Dusty (Creator/WoodyHarrelson) and Lefty (Creator/JohnCReilly), elderly singer Chuck Akers (L.Q. Jones), heavily pregnant PA Molly (Creator/MayaRudolph), and various crew members (including actual ''PHC'' regulars Tom Keith, Sue Scott, and Tim Russell). Hovering in the background is a mysterious woman in a white trenchcoat (Creator/VirginiaMadsen) whose conversations with the cast and crew gradually reveal her true nature and agenda.
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9	!!Tropes from the movie:
10	* AngelUnaware: Asphodel
11	* AsHimself: Garrison Keillor. Actually, the character he playes is credited as "G.K.", with some notable personality differences: the RealLife Keillor doesn't have any problems with giving memorials on the radio, including moments of silence, and is only ''slightly'' less of a CloudCuckooLander than his film equivalent.
12	* CentralTheme: Death seems to be a major recurring theme. Interesting since Robert Altman himself died shortly after the films release.
13	* ChekhovsGun: Lola's macabre poetry is used as impromptu song lyrics when the radio program needs to fill in six minutes of dead air.
14	* CloudCuckooLander: Guy Noir most definitely ''and'' a lot of his clients; Garrison to a lesser extent.
15	* ContinuityNod:
16	** The station the film's version of ''APHC'' airs on, WLT, first appeared in Keillor's novel ''WLT: A Radio Romance''.
17	** There also seem to be several subtle nods to earlier Altman films. A live radio show featuring CountryMusic recalls ''{{Film/Nashville}}'' (as does having Lily Tomlin in the cast), Guy Noir is reminiscent of the portrayal of Literature/PhilipMarlowe in ''Film/TheLongGoodbye'' and a mysterious, otherworldly blonde woman in a long coat also played a prominent role in ''Film/BrewsterMcCloud''.
18	* CrossesTheLineTwice: In-universe, the stage manager (played by ''PHC'' regular Tim Russell) almost has a stroke at Dusty and Lefty's performance of "Bad Jokes", which ''starts'' with a verse about a blind man's guide dog pissing on his shoes and being "rewarded" with a steak so the man knows where to aim for when he kicks the dog's ass, and it gets more vulgar from there. The implication is that Dusty and Lefty know they won't be recording another episode anyway, so they're determined to have fun with their final number.
19	* DeadAir: After one of the singers passes away backstage during the show, they briefly consider having a moment of silence for him on the show.
20	-->'''Garrison Keillor:''' Silence on the radio? [[LampshadeHanging I don't know how that works.]]
21	* DeadpanSnarker:
22	-->'''Lola Johnson:''' This isn't really going to be your last show, is it?
23	-->'''Garrison Keillor:''' Every show is your last show. That's my philosophy.
24	-->'''Rhonda Johnson:''' [[SarcasmMode Thank you, Plato.]]
25	* DecemberDecemberRomance: Country singer Chuck Akers and the crew member he is engaged in a whimsical romance with are both about seventy.
26	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: The Axeman from Texas who's come to cancel the show takes his final trip with Asphodel[[spoiler: and it makes absolutely no difference, because with or without him, the cancellation is going to happen anyway]].
27	* TheGrimReaper: [[MeaningfulName Asphodel]].
28	* MetafictionalTitle: The film is a fictional behind-the-scenes look at the making of the ''Radio/APrairieHomeCompanion'' radio show.
29	* MoodWhiplash: Done ''brilliantly'' when the Johnson Sisters' heartbreaking duet "Goodbye to my Mama" is followed up immediately by Dusty and Lefty singing "Bad Jokes" which is 4 1/2 minutes of pure, unadulterated comedy.
30	* MurderBallad
31	* NiceGuy: Several characters including Chuck, Dusty, and Lefty are very easygoing and pleasant people.
32	* OddNameOut: Yolanda, Rhonda, and their sister Wanda have names ending with "nda", while their sister Connie (and their baby brother Johnny) don't.
33	* OnlySaneMan: The two stage managers, hustling around behind the scenes trying to make sure the show happens ''despite'' the talent.
34	* ParodyCommercial: As in the radio show, G.K. and his fellow performers pause between performances to shill such fictional products as Beebop-a-Ree-Bop Rhubarb Pie (nothing gets the taste of humiliation out of your mouth quite like it!) and Powdermilk Biscuits (in the familiar blue box).
35	* {{Pun}}: Most of the jokes in the "Bad Jokes" song.
36	* RemakeCameo: Radio show cast members Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith appear as crew members. (Keith is debatably AsHimself, as his role doing sound effects is also a function he fills on the radio show.)
37	* TheShowMustGoOn: A theme explored in all its facets, with some of the cast members, especially Lindsay Lohan's character, thinking Keillor is a little callous when he refuses to pause when one of their own dies during production.
38	** The film's credits avert this, it plays over the cast singing and performing even AfterTheEnd.
39	* ShowWithinAShow: The eponymous ''APHC''.
40	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: It's nice that Altman's last film is one of the few that actually leans more on the idealistic and sentimental side.
41	** Moreover, it's a film about endings. When the hammer comes down, you put on one more show, take a bow, and leave. And that's okay.
42	* SmallRoleBigImpact: Chuck doesn't have much screentime but [[spoiler: his death]] plays an important part in the stories themes.
43	* SoundToScreenAdaptation
44	* StrawCritic: The man in charge of closing the show.
45	* ThoseTwoGuys: Dusty and Lefty
46	* WhileRomeBurns: The singers bravely put on one last show for the memories.
47	* WellDoneSonGuy: "Well done daughter woman", more like. Guy Noir helps quite a few people with these issues.

Context Film / APrairieHomeCompanion