leinink

As a made for TV movie, I would rate this an 8, but it ain't (made for TV) that is. I rented this, against my better judgment, based on a review from a credible newspaper reviewer. Normally, I would steer clear of cliché-d based features like this one, but decided to give it a chance, in the hope it would overcome its flimsy premise. Unfortunately, the writing lacked creativity and integrity, leaving the actors to do their best with some TV-quality material. The acting is fine, although I continue to fail to see any range in Cynthia Nixon. How any mature actor can fail to credibly portray a deep relationship with a dying child is beyond me. Her role is not helped by an unbelievable and shallow "relationship" with the football star/male model character. Watchable, but nothing more.

I rarely comment on movies, but when I see one getting such a bad rap.... I rented this for my 2 kids ages 8 and 12, and watched it with them and my wife. We all enjoyed it, and my kids have watched it several times since. It is obvious from the get go that this is a "goofy" movie, and it succeeds greatly as such. You can see the gags coming, but that only adds to the anticipation, as the goofiness is delivered in spades. We all loved Turtleman, and many of the other nutty characters invented by Dana. It is so difficult to find a family movie that we all can enjoy, that is harmless fun, with no scariness, no mom getting killed (a la Disney), no kidnapping, etc, etc. Only wish there was a sequel!

I have read everything by Keillor, and love the radio show, but was disappointed by the movie. I suppose a movie about backstage at a radio show starts with 2 strikes against it. Strike 3 is the absence of a decent plot. The Dangerous Woman would well have been cut back (see trivia), and the closing of the show as a plot device is very thin. Lastly, I found Streep's character (one of the primary ones) fairly annoying - not Meryl's fault, but written as a whiny character. Perhaps I'm not a big enough Altman fan to overcome these flaws. GK himself was entertaining, as were Dusty and Lefty. The Lohan part was weak, and I thought the Johnson Sisters a bit self-indulgent.