At the end, who was the angel after? - A Prairie Home Companion (2006) Discussion

[–] inmande 17 years ago

I would agree with it being Meryl. I had this conversation with my family after watching it a 2nd time and we decided that there had to be a reason for them to mention her signing over her power. But that Klien point is a good one...

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[–] ragreen259 16 years ago

Key Clue: "We added some lariat tricks to our repetoire."
In the final scene, everyone is on stage. They're doing lariat tricks. This scene takes place after the diner scene, it is indeed from their "farewell tour." Everyone is there but Guy Noir.
I'm still trying to figure out why someone would think that because Streep signed a power of attorney, that that meant she probably died. Huh? The sisters were told early on "you may as well have stuck your money in a shoebox." Lohan is taking care of her mother's finances, clearly mom is a little scatterbrained. It's not a conservatorship, it's a power of attorney.

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[–] clive-ihd 15 years ago

No, the closing credits scene is from the last radio show. Lindsay Lohan is wearing the pink shawl she wore when she did Frankie and Johnny.

Guy Noir isn't on stage because he wasn't a performer.

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[–] jaddison383 17 years ago

My friend watched it recently, and we got into this conversation as well. She says the Angel was coming for Kline, because he told them he couldn't be a part of the tour, and then starting "primping" I see her point, and it's quite possible.

However, I think that she came for all of them, because they all saw her. If you watch the special features, Virginia Madsen (Angel) talks about how only some people in the movie could see her (She mentions Garrison and Kline), and she says that this happened for a reason- Of course, they never fully explained. I think she could have been coming for all of them, though, cuz they all look up at her.

Last Movie Watched: A Prairie Home Companion
Rating: Something inherently beautiful- Truly, one of the best films of the year! 8/10 stars! Maybe even 9!
"So much happened before Dorothy dropped in!"

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[–] joedolinsky 17 years ago

I did not see the interview. However, when the angel touched the old guy he acted as if she was not there. And she was right behind him when he was sitting in the chair and he did not notice her. Maybe it's the other way around. When you see her, your safe. Who didn't see her in the diner? One more thing, she had a conversation with the MC about the night she died he saw fine. Food for thought

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[–] koppmeier_kevin 17 years ago

Tommy Lee Jones saw her as well and look what happened to him. I assume his driver died as well.

I watched the scene again last night and I think she came for Dusty and Lefty. You hear them as she enters the diner, yet when she passes the counter they are no longer sitting there.

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[–] ja280 16 years ago

Lola didnt see him so if the theory is correct then she dies next. it seems very unlikely tho I agree with the bus crash theory

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[–] trshea65 17 years ago

She was there for all of them. They should not have ordered the fish.

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[–] SpicyFrootLoops 16 years ago

hahaha. this made me laugh. thanks.

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[–] Derek-18 16 years ago

Do you mean...the salmon mousse?

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[–] Danusha_Goska 16 years ago

Didn't like the movie, but ...

The very last thing they say before Madsen appears is a joke about Old Man Soderbergh missing his own eulogy "by just a few days."

And ... Keillor has mentioned, more than once, the plane crash that took several stars ... Big Bopper? Buddy Holly?

So, maybe they do all die in a bus crash ...

And then, of course, the closing song is "IN the Sweet by and by we shall meet"

but, who the hell knows, and the movie wasn't that good.

But I am curious.

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[–] virgiltx 17 years ago

This is a strange form of question, keeping in mind the story is fiction.
If it's not explicit story content, then it would have to be considered "hypothetical fiction" or "pseudo fiction" or something like that.
Did Garrison Keillor know, or intend anyone specific?
If he did, were his clues sufficient?
If he says later who it was, how do we know he didn't just decide arbitrarily later?
And can he just decide later who it was and tell us to make us happy?

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[–] trshea65 17 years ago

Yes, a better question is "why doesn't the movie specify?" And I think in the answer you find a theme of the movie.

But that's just me.

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[–] Shaedar 17 years ago

I agree - I think the whole point is that we aren't really supposed to know - the movie is all about how life is often random and too short, and you just have to do your best to be ready when the time comes.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] virgiltx 17 years ago

I've suspected that he meant Altman, but that's outside the actual story. And then again ,we could all believe that she's coming, eventually, for each one of us. Now that's a spooky thought.

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[–] JudyGarlandFan-1 17 years ago

With the way the scene was shot and choreographed, I'm almost sure the angel was after Kline.

Kline points to all of the characters at the table and she blankly stares at him. When he gets nervous and points to himself and the film ends, I think that's a pretty good clue that she was coming for him.

Of course, I don't know if this is definitely true, but that's how I interpreted it.

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[–] discdrifter 17 years ago

I've eaten at that diner. She was there for the peach pie.

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[–] janstrangs 16 years ago

after reading all the comments, I believe this is the right answer.

After watching it, with Lola getting her mom to sign over the power of attornery, saying something about a cheap bus, I thought she was there to take them all together. But, after reading the comments, being reminded that she is there to also comfort, why, everyone knows pie is a great commort food.

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[–] LilBigBug 14 years ago

My boyfriend and I watched this movie (I watched it the other night, but was only half paying attention) tonight. He thinks that the angel came for Lola, and I'm still not sure who she came for.

I'm not finished!
Oh yes you are Captain... I mean Fraulein.

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[–] parisel 13 years ago

No, Lola wasn't there when the angel came. She had already left.

I guess it's like looking at clouds. You see one thing and I see another. Peace.

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[–] latteforthisguy 17 years ago

Did anyone notice that when the camera first looked at the booth from the DW's point of view, Dusty and Lefty had disappeared from their places at the end of the counter, even though they'd been there a second earlier? I noticed this the first time I saw the film and have a hard time believing that Altman would allowed such an obvious error in the last scene of what he probably knew was his last film, which means that maybe she was there to take D & L for their last ride into the sunset.

Despite this, my bet is that the DW was en route to Holsten's in Jersey to pick up Tony Soprano and just stopped in for some peach pie.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] rwm-11 17 years ago

I think this is the best way to think if you're going from the approach she was coming after someone. I was kind of taken aback at the ending. I prefer to think the angel came back to give them comfort on their impending tour and not death at all but to comfort in life.

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[–] nm2285 17 years ago

I believe GK is the one that the angel is after. They all see the angel with the exception of GK. That follows with the fact that the old man doesn't see the angel before he dies, nor does Tommy Lee Jones's character see the angel in the car. In a way it makes the idea of a reunion die as well - GK is the catalyst of the show and it won't happen without him.

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[–] some_kind_of_mushroom 17 years ago

i'm pretty sure tommy lee jones's chraracter does see her in the car. he says something to the driver like "she said something about a shortcut..." which leads me to believe he knew she was in there waiting for him, thinking he was going to get lucky. instead he's about to die... anyway, thats just my opinion, he never does actually look at her so it's hard to say, but that line makes me think he knew she was in the car.

as far as the old guy, is there a scene where she actually comes to take him? i know he didnt see her right after he and the sandwhich lady were making out, but do they actually show the angel take him? i guess what i'm trying to say is that it seems like the posters who are saying that the only people who see the angel are the ones who are going to die. as far as gk i think she just reveiled herself to him to let him know he was the reason she died and to ask about the penguin joke.

so in essence, maybe the ending insinuates that all four of them will die. maybe on the tour bus they rented...

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[–] jakuhn 16 years ago

he walked out before her... and yet she was already in the car?

an oddly phrased line, but having nothing to do with whether he saw her in the car

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[–] Dodgson 17 years ago

At first I thought the angel was coming for Lohan's character because of her new high stress life. I remember them all seeing her at the diner. This is the magic of art. It is open to interpretation. She may have come after the tour. The show is dead. That sort of thing.

Side note:
Virginia Madsen did a good job in the role. My one complaint was that her movements and mannerisms seemed forced. That's just the way I saw it.

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[–] mrshvd3 17 years ago

I figured it was Guy Noir, since he is the only character we no longer see after the last diner scene.

...One Nation, UNDER GOD...

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] koppmeier_kevin 17 years ago

Not necessarily. He was not a performer and would not have been on stage.Guy also says that the last song of the broadcast was "Sweet by and by" which is the song for the closing credits. That scene took place before the scene in the diner since Lohan was still in her Frankie and Johnny outfit.

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[–] mrshvd3 17 years ago

...the last song of the broadcast was "Sweet by and by" which is the song for the closing credits. That scene took place before the scene in the diner since Lohan was still in her Frankie and Johnny outfit.

I thought so, too, except that in the diner, Dusty and Lefty mentioned that they had now added rope tricks to their act. And in that final theater scene (with the credits rolling), they are doing a rope trick. I think the last scene represented their having gotten back together for a reunion show.

...One Nation, UNDER GOD...

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[–] jakuhn 16 years ago

thank you for stating this... i had been thinking it for 3 pages and was just about to type it

Guy was "Security"

while his character was a serialized character in the real show and while in the movie one could easily make the argument that he "acted" more than anyone else, he was still not scripted to be an "onstage" performer.

and second agreement point...they were all in the same costumes, this was obviously an extended cut of the closing show song--why would lindsay lohan's character have joined them for a road tour, having her own career AND having only sung one song in the show's 30 year run?

Finally, i'm not sure one could call spinning the rope in a circle a "rope trick." D and L were referring to something a bit more difficult

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[–] ela3000 17 years ago

I'm thinking Kline. The last time I watched it I noticed he did atleat three of the seven deadly sins:

Greed- He wouldn't go on the tour because he had his own affairs to take care of... that could almost double as sloth too

Gluttony- He kept on ordering more and more eggs... and he kept on pointing at everyone else when she came in

Pride- he kept on looking in the mirror

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[–] mattress67 17 years ago

It's funny. The Angel was after who ever you want the Angel to be after. Garrison Keillor is a very good writer. He purposely left various clues throughout the film to justify any of the characters as possible suspects. Ending a film with an "open ending" is a great technique in making a lasting impression on the viewer.

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[–] budwheat 17 years ago

IMDB notes as a "goof" that after all the Diner characters see the Dangerous Lady, the pull-away ending scene shows that end of the Diner "empty". I don't think that is a goof at all, it tells us the "angel" got 'em all.

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[–] virgiltx 17 years ago

I think another goof with respect to the diner is in the opening scene. Guy Noir is leaving the diner to go to work at the station for the final night. Inside the diner, working as a cook behind the counter, is the censor guy from the radio program. He was there in the ending scene in the diner, like that was the post radio program job he found. He should be inside the theater at that time. Of course they shot both diner scenes at the same time, so they used him, "Al" (Tim Russell), in both.

Back to the angel; I had thew feeling it meant that she could be coming for anyone, at anytime, including Altman, or any one of us. It would have less meaning if it were only another specific story character.

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[–] dac287 17 years ago

The Angel could hve been after all of them.

I suppose if i had to technicallyh speculate, Merryl Streep makes the most sense with her wanting to aovid the end and just keep "doing one last show after another and never stop" as well as her inability to remember the songs and her conversation with her daughter when she gives up her legal power.

BUT,

I think that isj ust the obvious clues for those who really care.

In the end it doesn't matter. It really doesn't. She's there for all of them, even if it is not at that moment, she is going to get ALL OF THEM in the end. It doesn't matter which because death comes for them all and all of us. It is random and often pointless. But do not dwell on that. Rejoice for life, hence the transition back to the end of the show as they sang Sweet By and By. Enjoy life, because death will come no matter what. So why focus on it?

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[–] Spacer1 17 years ago

Wasn't The Axeman able to see her when she was in the booth with him? I wasn't clear about that, sorry if it's a dumb question.

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[–] virgiltx 17 years ago

He conversed with her, didn't he? She gave him the directions to the airport that killed him.

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[–] Spacer1 17 years ago

I just wasn't sure because he never looked directly at her, only in reflection, and he had to ask the driver if he knew the shortcut he didn't say where to go.

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