There is no nostalgia worse than white middle class nostalgia, is there? I had hoped that with Altman doing this, it might be able to transcend the nostalgia schtick. No such luck, though.

Now, if it had just been a concert film, it might have been great. But as we saw with Jonathan Demme (another good director) with Neil Young, that isn't necessarily the case.

Which is why I'm beginning to form the opinion that great feature film directors do not make this sort of music film or music documentary well.

There are exceptions, of course. Scorcese & 'The Last Waltz' comes to mind. But nothing else does.

Now, 'Prairie Home' isn't in 'Reynaldo and Clara' territory, thank god. But the fact that film even comes to mind for something to compare this to sends off alarm bells in me head.

It is just frighteningly and maddeningly mediocre for an Altman film. I do expect directors like Altman to make a stinker now and then, and even to make a not very good film technically, but have it be good for other reasons. Spike Lee's 'Bamboozled' was like that. As was Altman's 'Three Women'.

But this film is just, hmmm. A couple of hours of mediocrity with a giggle here and there, and not very good music. The story concept was good. But the writing is just awful. We barely see any of the PHC regulars, except Robin & Linda & Jeralyn Steele. The band and the audience are used as props, and not to good effect at all.

The best thing I can say about the film was I enjoyed the actor's performances for the most part, and the theatre was air conditioned.