Prairie Home Companion (2006)

           The key to enjoying this film is to remember that it is not a documentary but a rendering of a fictional last performance of the radio program, but that's hard to remember when Garrison Keillor plays himself—singing, telling stories, and peddling make believe commercials with dead pan seriousness. The live radio variety show that many people enjoyed is one thing; this film loosely based upon it is another. Without that connection this film would never stand on its own. After thirty years the Soderbergs sold the building to wealthy Texans, and thus the show's final act. The two Johnson sisters, Yolanda and Rhonda (played by Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin), reminisce backstage while the show plays live in the background. Country cowboys Dusty and Lefty yuck it up. A woman who is really an angel, a death backstage during the broadcast, and a visit by one of the new investors disrupt the story line. But watching "GK," as he is called in this film, is always a treat.