It may be tiresome and lacking the bite of M*A*S*H, The Player and Short Cuts, but the final transmission of a fictional radio hoedown provides a fitting curtain-closer to the unique career of Robert Altman.

The notoriously obstinate director has raged against the Hollywood machine since the late 60s. When he did finally accept a studio job, the resulting commercial disaster (1980's Popeye) left him in the wilderness for an entire decade.

He may have been 'difficult' but actors loved to work with him – as evinced by the colossal cast lists of Nashville, The Player, Short Cuts, Pret-A-Porter, Kansas City and Gosford Park.

And so it is with A Prairie Home Companion, another ensemble affair full of the overlapping dialogue, meandering camerawork, drawn-out scenes and hit-and-miss improvisation that makes Altman like movie Marmite. You either love it or hate it.

Kevin Kline – having never tired of playing the self-important boob since winning an Oscar for A Fish Called Wanda - here delivers a Mickey Spillane-style voiceover as Guy Noir, the security manager of the soon-to-close radio hall.

Guy is perturbed by a mysterious woman in white (Virginia Madsen) whose presence in the wings provides a fantastical element to the night.

Playing himself as the host of the titular extravaganza is the film's writer Garrison Keillor, a man blessed with bone-dry humour and the archetypal 'face for radio'.

Regardless of the backstage shenanigans, 'G.K.' ensures that the last show goes on, assisted by an unflappable crew and C&W stalwarts like the Johnson Sisters, Yolanda and Rhonda (Streep and Tomlin).

Yolanda intends to drag her daughter Lola on stage, but the girl is immersed in her poetry. Presumably introduced for her youth appeal, Lindsay Lohan plays Lola like Sylvia Plath with hair conditioner and a Gap storecard.

Hers is a sensibly low-key performance, but two terribly improvised scenes leave an embarrassing mark on Streep's reputation and make one wonder just how Tomlin has built a career as a comedienne without ever being funny.

Tommy Lee Jones' late appearance is also unremarkable, but thankfully Woody Harrelson and John C Reilly are consistently entertaining as a pair of tunesome good ol' boys.

A Prairie Home Companion is a similar experience to those afternoons you had to spend with elderly relatives when you were eight years old – any moments of fun being hugely outweighed by the fidget factor.

Not all will tune into the drone of Keillor's wit, Altman's whimsy and Streep's warbling but undoubtedly, on-screen and off, it marks the end of an era.

Elliott Noble