"A Prairie Home Compainion,"
the Soundtrack

The following review, originally published on July 6 in The Montreal Gazette, was also published in the Calgary Herald on July 11 and The National Post on July 12.
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Fans of Garrison Keillor's long running public radio show, and Robert Altman's current film, will not want to miss the movie soundtrack featuring all the film's songs, and full-length performances of the instrumental tracks, in rootsy styles encompassing old-time country, traditional jazz, blues and folk music. The actors all do their own singing and Meryl Streep, in particular, proves herself a fine vocalist. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly, playing singing cowboys, are hilarious on Bad Jokes, a song interspersed with politically incorrect, but frequently very funny, bad jokes. Lindsay Lohan is a hoot with a warped version of Frankie and Johnny. Musical ringers like Robin and Linda Williams, Jearlyn Steele and the Guys All-Star Shoe Band are all terrific on their numbers. ****

-Mike Regenstreif