Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes (2009)

• 74%
• 2009
• Documentary
• Peter Rosen

America's foremost humorist and commentator, Garrison Keillor takes his skits and jokes, music and monologues across the country in his traveling radio show, spinning his stories into American gold. This freeform, intimate look at the private man in the public spotlight goes behind the scenes of America's most popular radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, and inside the imagination of the man who created it. Over one year of filming has resulted in an unusual portrait that cannot be defined by the standard terms of chronological biography: the subject himself is an enigma, and the fictional world he has created has become a real place in America: Lake Wobegon. A man compelled to speak for his people with humor and nostalgia; Keillor singlehandedly revived the art of live radio for generations of fans by creating an onstage world that deeply resonates with his audiences. His take on America is both pungent and poignant. In the best tradition of Will Rogers and Mark Twain, Keillor mixes storytelling and humor to give us a lighthearted but deeply felt reflection of ourselves.