A Prairie Home Companion
Picturehouse Entertainment | Release Date: June 9, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
What a lovely film this is, so gentle and whimsical, so simple and profound. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
A down-home-exquisite musical dramedy. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterKirk 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. Read full review
90
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Rib-ticklingly funny at times and genial as all get-out. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Sometimes you forget how great an actor is, then he or she is reborn in an Altman movie. Read full review
90
Village VoiceRob 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. Read full review
90
The New York TimesDana Stevens
It's not a perfect movie, and it does not aspire to be a great one. It's just wonderful. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe 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.
90
Film ThreatDon 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. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
At the age of 81, Altman may show signs of mellowing, but he again emerges as a master filmmaker. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Take a swig of this moonshine. There's magic in it. Read full review
88
PremiereGlenn 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. Read full review
88
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. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Altman and Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion is fittingly both a celebration and a winning example of the joys of collaboration. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
What sustains the film is the performers' belief in their shaggy-dog selves, which is more than just talent - it's faith. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter 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. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla 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. Read full review
80
SlateMichael Agger
With a theatrical setting, a large ensemble cast, and musical numbers, Altman and his crew are in their own tailored version of heaven. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack 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. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael 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. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley 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. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
It's a breezy, homespun, relaxing thing...watching this laid-back picture feels, oddly enough, like a vacation from movies. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn 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. Read full review
70
The New YorkerDavid 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. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Good-humored and enormously entertaining but also sentimental and a little dishonest. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie 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. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames 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. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Overall, the film falls into some comforting cocoon midway between affectionate spoof and adoring homage, much like Keillor's warmly nostalgic show. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It's a pleasant but insubstantial excuse for a film. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie 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. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson 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. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie Errigo
Not one of Altman’s masterpieces, but aficionados will find pleasures in a bittersweet swansong from the grand old man. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerGianni Truzzi
A beautiful angel of death (Virginia Madsen) meanders through the final broadcast, gracing beatitudes over the backstage romances and egg-salad sandwiches. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
The result is at once familiar and disconcerting, meta-Keillor done in Altman's desultory, distracted style. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
At its best, it's a gentle meditation on mortality. But at weaker moments it feels meandering and strangely empty. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
At best, mildly entertaining. Read full review
50
The New RepublicStanley 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. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
This is not one of the good Altmans. This isn't even one of the mediocre Altmans. Read full review
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