A Prairie Home Companion is a great tapestry of storytelling. On the evening of the last show before being bought out and consumed by a corporate rival, the cast members of the show attempt to come to terms with the end of their long-running radio installment. The movie seems to take place mostly in real time as the final show unfolds. Each member has his or her own personal story and the show has meant something unique in each of their lives. We only catch glimpses of these characters’ lives, like you would when making conversation with new acquaintances at a dinner party. But we also catch brief glimpses of the pain, frustration or beauty in each of them. We don’t get to know them well but we get to know them well enough to see their humanity. Even when a beloved cast member drops dead backstage after his final performance, we see the grief in these characters and subsequently the resilience in them to remember him lovingly-and even use a bit of humor to dull the pain. The little bits of drama weaved in between heartfelt down home songs, goofy advertising jingles and the even goofier songs played by Dusty and Lefty (Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly, respectively) are perfect counterpoints. It takes a wise and perhaps grizzled man to stare death in the eye and not flee from it-whether it be the death of a friend, death of a radio show or death of a comfortable way of life. Garrison Keillor is wonderful in this role and brings a bit of grace to the idea that you can’t control change, you can only control how you react to it. How fitting that this was director Robert Altman’s final show as well.