Tag Archives: 2006

Virginia Madsen in A Prairie Home Companion

A Prairie Home Companion

A Prairie Home Companion was a “new to me” film when I sat down to watch it for this whole Virginia Madsen thing. I don’t really know why I’ve never watched it before, I missed it on release, bought it and just never got round to it.

A fun little factoid while I’m here – A Prairie Home Companion was the film just starting to get some buzz around it when I sacked off the original version of this website all those years ago. At the time of watching / writing it’s one of the last I’m doing to complete this whole puzzle. Actually getting around to watching it now was kind of full circle for me, I didn’t even plan for it to be one of the last, not on purpose, my subconscious might have had something to do with it though.
Virginia Madsen as the Dangerous Woman in A Prairie Home Companion, wearing a white trench coat with a wide belt. She stands in a dimly lit backstage area, illuminated by a hanging lamp, with a mysterious and commanding presence.It’s the last film directed by Robert Altman, he was 80 while it was being made. The studio were so nervous about this they enlisted Paul Thomas Anderson as a backup in case things didn’t go according to plan.

The cast is amazing; Kevin Kline, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones thrown in with Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin and of course our heroine, Virginia Madsen – I mean – it doesn’t really get a lot better than that on paper.

But, just because something looks good on paper doesn’t make it good on screen as I’ve found out time and time again when doing this whole thing.

It’s actually a quirky little (but big) film. We follow the story about the end of an era, the final broadcast of a long running Radio Show called, A Prairie Home Companion. It’s all done in a behind the scenes kind of format. You get the very real feeling you’re watching it play out live, or one of those Netflix documentaries where they film everything. It’s quite voyeuristic in places and a delight to watch actors of this calibur do this kind of thing.

And, it’s voyeuristic with good reason. It’s kind of, sort of, based on a real radio show, called “The Prairie Home Companion”, funnily enough. The host of the radio show, Garrison Keillor, would be the writer of this film version. More than a couple of people involved with the actual show would make their way over to this fictional version of it including Garrison himself, Tim Russell and Sue Scott.Virginia Madsen as the Dangerous Woman in A Prairie Home Companion, wearing a white trench coat. She leans over with a solemn expression, watching over an ailing man in a dimly lit room filled with candles and music memorabilia.Virginia Madsen plays a character who just goes by “Dangerous Woman”, though she’s widely regarded to be the actual Angel of Death. The “Dangerous Woman” moniker probably comes from her waltzing around in a trench coat and being all mysterious. Which, to be fair, she does pull off a trench coat quite well.

It’s not the Angel of Death you’re probably thinking of, not the way it’s played on screen at least. She’s a very serene figure with an ethereal presence. Almost soothing. It’s odd, there is almost no drama to her on screen despite you being painfully aware of what she represents. This is noticeable from when we first meet her in Kevin Kline’s office, to the way she enters the diner at the end of the film. In amongst the general chaos of the rest of the film it’s a unique performance that I don’t think just “anyone” could pull off. You very much get the impression that she’s heavily involved with the characters, deciding their fates, but the way she blends into the background and generally goes unnoticed unless she wants to be. Well, it’s kind of genius. Full credit to Virginia Madsen on this one, very subtle but very effective.

It’s all completely by design as well. Speaking with Jimmy Guerts for the Herald Tribune she’d explain;

“So I got to sit next to Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson sometimes all day and just watch them work and listen to how he directed. Every once in a while, he’d say ‘Put in the angel!’ and I’d go in and he’d go, ‘No, no, bring her out.”

I realise I’ve been very complimentary about the film so far, and that’s because I very much did enjoy it. But I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I’m not even sure there’s much of a plot, really – It’s just a film about life and due to the way it’s shot, that’s what you end up watching, life.Virginia Madsen as the Dangerous Woman in A Prairie Home Companion, wearing a white trench coat. She walks through a vintage hallway with a calm, enigmatic expression, her reflection visible in a foggy window beside her.It’s a little slow, but it’s not supposed to be anything fast paced. It’s a sentimental old fool’s love letter to a dying form of art. It’s homely, it’s… Nice. For want of a better way of putting it.

And, of course it would give Virginia Madsen a chance to work with Tommy Lee Jones again (sort of, he only has a small role) after all those years back in Gotham / The Dead Can’t Lie. And, kinda odd that the role she plays here isn’t a million miles away from that role either. Funny how that happens sometimes.

Availability:

Good, not hard to find on DVD in many different languages and regions.

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Virginia Madsen in Stuart Little 3

Stuart Little 3: Call of The Wild

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Stuart Little 3, the raggedy little scamp of a mouse. Now. I won’t lie, before all of this Virginia Madsen site stuff I hadn’t seen the movie, and, honestly, had no real desire to either.

I saw the first one a looooooooooooooooong time ago, it was amusing, but not for me. The third film always seemed a bit odd to me. The third movie see It change to a fully animated affair compared to the previous two mix ups of live action and CGI. It also skipped the cinema entirely and went straight to DVD.

We still have Michael J Fox doing the mouse thing, Geena Davis doing the Mom thing and Hugh Laurie doing the Dad thing though, all is not lost.

In Stuart Little 3 we find Stuart and family heading off on a camping trip to Lake Garland. The whole family, including the cat, Snowbell Which, I guess is a bit odd, but we’re talking about a film about a talking mouse here.

Not long into their trip Stuart meets a skunk named Reeko (Wayne Brady) who isn’t the most favourite animal in the forest due to his association with “The Beast”, a female Cougar who is the leader of the forest around Lake Garland. The Beast is the character who sounds remarkably like Virginia Madsen.

I’m pretty sure there’s a joke to be had somewhere around here but I shall refrain from attempting any…

Stuart and Reeko end up making friends, with Reeko even being invited to the family dinner. But, it’s not long before Reeko Is showing everyone just why he’s not the most popular animal in the forest and after deciding that the food he got from the Little family wasn’t enough he hatches a plan to lure Snowbell into the forest for The Beast.

Stuart is obviously having none of this and sets off to save Snowbell, and cartoon based shenanigans ensue.

Virginia Madsen seemed to have a lot of fun making this movie. I guess it’s kind of a different role for her to be the out and out villain in a story. Well, not including her early femme fetale roles anyway. The Beasts character comes from a dark place, snarling, commanding and power hungry. Quite the contrast to most of her other roles around the same time period, and those both before and after. I’d quite like to see her play this kind of ‘evil’ role in live action at some point. I mean, this is a kids film and she manages to pull off evil in a family friendly way, imagine her let loose.
Virginia Madsen in Stuart Little 3I mean, it’s not the first time she’s taken the role of the villan in something animated, look at her Silver Sable in Spider-man, or Roulette in Justice League Unlimited. Let her have some proper live action over the top villany I say!

The movie itself, well. I’m a grown up and don’t mind the odd “kids” film when there is something in there for the adults as well. But this isn’t one of those films.

And, I have to say it was disappointing on a few levels, I don’t think that even as a kid I’d enjoy this film as much as the other ones. I don’t quite know what it was missing, but, something.

One for the collectors of Virignia Madsen to put on their shelves and possibly never watch, heh – One for most people to put on their shelves and never watch I’d imagine.

Availability:

You can trip over copies on eBay, Amazon and wherever else you normally shop if you aren’t careful.

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virginia madsen on the dog whisperer

The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan

This is something different. The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan. I originally saw this when it aired on a random TV channel in the UK, many, many years ago now. I was going through the guide when I saw Virginia Madsen’s name mentioned and hit the record button. I had no idea it was actually available to buy on DVD until a saved eBay search for “virginia madsen” found it for me.

The show is based around Cesar Millan (obviously) who helps Dogs that need, well, help. Normally some kind of behavioural / training thing that their Human doesn’t approve of, or if the dog is scared of something etc etc.

I should point out that I LOVE Dogs, I’m very much a dog person, I’m the one that will almost stop and say hello to a friendly Dog when I’m out walking my own Dog. I’ve all the time in the world for them. Having said that, I know some Dogs are just jerks, my current Dog can be a complete jerk when he wants to be and I’m fully aware of that. (He likes jumping at things so they run away, he doesn’t chase them or mean anything by it, but for whatever reason he likes it).

It’s probably also wise to mention that not everyone approves of Cesar Millan and his methods. Now, I’m not qualified to judge and I’ve not seen enough of the episodes to make an opinion on how he does his thing but Mr Millan isn’t without controversy when other experts in the field weigh in on his methods. One of the most common complaints is that his methods are outdated and lack any real kind of science. In some European countries there is a warning at the start of the show that some of the techniques shown in the episodes might be illegal.

Make of all that what you will.

The Dog Whisperer ran from 2004 to 2012 on the National Geographic Channel and lasted for 9 seasons. Each episode was styled like a Documentary and Cesar would be introduced to a dog with some kind of problem, he’d then work with the dog to try and work through their issues and get them to behave in a way in which the dog could enjoy life more.

Virginia Madsen appeared twice on The Dog Whisperer, once in Season 3 and then again in Season 4.

The Season 3 episode 2, “Buster, Holli and Spike & Belle”.

The episode premiered on 30th October 2006, Virginia Madsen features in the segment “Family Decisions”.

We see Virginia and her son Jack who are wanting to adopt a new puppy after the loss of one of their other dogs, Dixie. She was a Shepherd mix who lived to the grand old age of 14 before getting ill with Pancreatitis, Knowing that her much loved dog was nearing the end she called upon Cesar for advice. The two knew each other already after he’d helped with a problem of Dixie and their other dog, Spike who’d run away at every chance they got.virginia madsen on the dog whisperer Cesar advises them on what they need and brings a selection of rescue dogs for them to consider, which I very much approve of.

Cesar oversees Virginia and Jack as they pick one of the dogs to be a new member of the family, taking into consideration how the dog behaves with their existing animals and especially with Spike, their existing dog.
virginia madsen on the dog whispererEventually they find a companion for Spike, a little belter called Belle (spoilers don’t apply when they are in the title it seems).

Obviously Virginia isn’t “on” for the camera here, she’s not acting, and so we can’t comment on that – BUT – We can say that it’s nice to see her in a more candid environment, chilling out with her Son and adding to their family unit. It’s nice to see, even if it is only a brief peak inside.virginia madsen on the dog whisperer
Virginia Madsen is also listed as appearing in the 100th Episode of the show, a “special”. BUT, despite getting hold of a copy on DVD and watching the episode, several times, I couldn’t find her in there.

It’s possiible the DVD had been edited, for some reason, not sure.

Availability:

You can quite easily buy the third and fourth seasons on DVD, but if you live outside of the US then you’re going to pay more in shipping than for the DVD unless you get lucky and find a copy that’s already imported.

Weirdly, there is also a Dog Whisperer Collection DVD available called “Stories of Hope and Inspiration” – If you look at the back cover Virginia Madsen is in one of the screenshots, but that episode does not appear on any of the disc – So there you go don’t be fooled if you see it.

(In all fairness the disc menu does say they’re episodes from Season 3, probably just someone in the design department not checking what they’re doing properly.)

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virginia madsen in the astronaut farmer

The Astronaut Farmer

The Astronaut Farmer is a 2006 film, and it’s a film about following your dreams first and foremost. Virginia Madsen seems to end up in a lot of these kinds of films I’ve noticed, or maybe there is just a lot more of these films than I realised.

Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) is a former Air Force Pilot and would be astronaut, he was enrolled in the space program with the military before being forced to pull out of it. Rather sadly it was after his Father commited suicide admist the growing debt the familes ranch and gotten itself into. This caused Charles to cancel his dreams and return home to save it.

He got to live a happy life with his wife, Audrey (Virignia Madsen), his son Shepard (Max Theirot), and two daughters, Stanley (Jasper Polish) and Sunshine (Logan Polish) – BUT, years later with the itch still bugging him Charles decides he’s going to build his own rocket in one of his Barns.

He manages to build a replica of the Murcury-Atlas rocket, and fair play to him, he pulls it off and gets it spaceworthy all on his lonesome.

It’s only when he starts asking around about how to get hold of some rocket fuel to power it that things start to come unstuck. The FBI and FAA get themselves involved, along with the public who show an interest in his project.
Virginia Madsen as Audrey The Media latch on to Charles and his plans for his home made rocket and turn him into a sensation, much to the dismay of the aforementioned FBI and FAA.

Ultimately they decide that an ordinary hard working fellow like Charles can’t possibly give any ideas to the rest of the ordinary hard working folk and they tell Charles he can’t go ahead with his launch. Having sunk too much money into the whole thing for it not to work, Charles ultimately decides to stick it to the man and launch his rocket anyways.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd. Yeah. You’re going to have to watch it to see what actually happens. I’ve avoided spoiling other films and I’m not about to start with this one now.

Normally I would not like this kind of film. I don’t go in for sentimental films for the most part, but this one has a heart to it.
Virginia Madsen as Audrey

I also liked that Bruce Willis showed up in a cameo role. From the start I was reminded of Billy Bob Thorntons character in Armageddon where he played Dan Truman. a man who always wanted to goto space but couldn’t due to not being physically up to it. When Bruce turned up to give him the nod, yeah. Do approve.

Virginia Madsen’s part is that of the supportive wife, and as always she pulls it off admirably. I mean I wish she wasn’t playing this kind of role at this point in her career, but at least she’s obviously putting the effort in, probably because she was having such a good time on set.

Speaking with The AV Club in 2013 she’d rate The Astronaut Farmer as her most favourite film to work on to date, espeically working with Billy Bob Thornon;

“Because that was Billy Bob [Thornton], you know? And I like these guys. I like men who are real manly men. I like being around a lot of testosterone. But the real stuff. Not the misogynistic, self-conscious guys who don’t really have confidence but who are trying to pretend. Like, if they’re mean to women or demeaning to women, that somehow makes them manly? These kinds of men just make you feel at ease, because they like women. They’re not threatened by women, and they like them strong. And Billy Bob, I just completely fell in love with him. Granted, in that kind of safe actor way… [Laughs.]

But oh, I just love that man. He’s just one of my favorites ever to work with. We were in New Mexico, and we had these really cool artist twins who were our directors—the Polish brothers—and they had these little beautiful daughters who played our daughters in the movie. They weren’t professional actors, so they were lovely and sweet, and I got to play with them all day long and do arts and crafts. And I got to dance with Billy Bob Thornton! I mean, God, how much better could it be? [Laughs.]”

Would I recommend this one? Well, normally, no – But as i said – This one has heart and it’s worth a watch. I think if it’d been anyone else but Billy Bob Thornton doing his earnest American Hero thing then it might have been a different story, but. Yeah this one works.

Availability:

You practically trip over copies looking on eBay and other online stores.

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Virginia Madsen in Firewall

Firewall

Firewall. Firewall. Firewall. Where to start?

At the beginning, I guess.

Firewall is a 2006 thriller film, it’s a tech heist kind of movie that was popular at the time, for a short while at least.

Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is the Chief of Security at a Bank in Seattle. He’s forced into helping criminal Bill Cox (Paul Bettany) into transferring money from his bank into his offshore accounts.

Jack, of course, want’s no part of this but Bill has taken his wife Beth (Virginia Madsen) and his two kids hostage in their home so he’s forced into going along with his plan, but he constantly looks for ways out of the situation.
Virginia Madsen as Beth Stanfield in Firewall, lying in bed with her two children. She smiles gently while tucking them in, illuminated by soft, warm lighting in a dimly lit bedroom.And, yeah. It’s a film that we’ve seen in one form or another many, many times over the years. Firewall brings nothing to the table and ends up being just another formulaic film which hits all the right notes at the right points until it finishes in exactly the way you think it’s going to end.

Virginia’s part in the movie is disappointing. It was her first outing on the big screen since  2004s smash film Sideways, and I won’t lie – I was pretty chuffed to hear she was going to be in a big movie starring alongside Harrison Ford, THE Harrison Ford.

But, how quickly that waned.

It’s another movie where she doesn’t have a great deal to do, anybody could have been his wife. I mean, she does her best to play the scared Wife and Mother in the whole situation, that much is evident. But, it’s another one where she’s wasted. Putting her in a role like this, of course you’re going to get quality but, come on, she deserves more.

She can’t, of course, save a bad movie, especially being underused like she is here. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a terrible movie, I sat through the rewatch so that’s a good thing. But, it’s far from a great one. It’s a no brainer film, popcorn fodder at most.
Virginia Madsen as Beth Stanfield in Firewall (2006), standing in front of a rain-streaked window. She wears a dark hoodie and looks over her shoulder with a concerned expression, surrounded by potted plants in a warmly lit kitchen.Speaking about the movie while on the promotional tour with radiofree.com she seemed to have fun making the movie at least, at least working with Harrison Ford, well… And kissing the (lucky) fella at least.

“Yeah. I kind of snuck that in there. He didn’t know I was going to do it. [laughs] And plus it was my first day, and that was the scene, so I just thought, “Well, I’ll go for it.” And I did!

I didn’t plan it, but I just thought, “Well, we don’t have any opportunity to embrace in this movie.” And I wanted to see a marriage. I didn’t want to just be the screen wife in the background. And he didn’t want me to be that way, either. He really fought for every human moment that I had in this movie so that I wasn’t reduced to that. And my hat’s off to him, because he gave that to me. This was my first time in many, many years being in a studio picture. And it was my first time being on a movie this big. So I didn’t want to make waves, I guess. I didn’t feel intimidated, I just wanted to observe, and I don’t know that I would have been as demonstrative as I usually can be on a set with moments that I want as an actor. I think I would have just been like, “That’s cool…” But he stepped up for me.”

I’d like to say it’s worth a watch, but it’s not something you should go out of your way to see. I probably wouldn’t have bothered watching it again if it wasn’t for this project. I wasn’t even sure if I’d make it to the end when it started playing in the machine.

If you’re bored and flicking through the channels and it’s on, then keep it on, watch it for what it is without expecting too much and you’ll be fine.

Availability:

Good. Easy to find on DVD and Blu-Ray, and for cheap. It’s on streaming channels depending on your location.

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virginia madsen in smith

Smith

Ah. This one hurts. Smith was a TV show that aired back in 2006, briefly. It was one that I genuinely looked forward to watching. As well as starring Virginia Madsen it had a few of my other favourite actors in it as well.

BUT – It seems I was pretty much in the minority on this one, it was cancelled after just three episodes had aired. It was the first of the new shows aired in 2006 to be cancelled in fact. No messing about there then… There were 7 episodes in total to go at and only 4 of those aired originally.

It followed a crew of Professional Thieves led by a chap known as Bobby Stevens (Ray Liotta). Bobby is married to Hope (Virginia) who mostly turns a blind eye to her husband’s exploits, but is getting weary of it all. Bobby is looking to end his criminal career after a few more big hits which would have set him up with the money he wanted to retire on.
Virginia Madsen as Hope Stevens in Smith, sitting on a couch with an intense gaze. Her long, curly blonde hair frames her face, and she wears a black jacket over a white top. The dim lighting and warm-toned pillows in the background add to the moody atmosphere.Of course, it was never going to be as easy as all that.

Joining Bobby on his criminal shenanigans are Jeff Breen (Simon Baker), Tom (Jonny Lee Miller), Joe Garcia (Franky G) and Annie (Amy Smart).

Bobby is the brains of the bunch, he plots things out with an attention to detail rarely seen. Jeff is basically the guy that does the dirty work, a sociopath who won’t think twice about killing someone. Tom is a paroled convict looking to stay on the outside of prison going forward. Joe is the wheelman and general automotive king. Annie who while having brains, isn’t afraid to trade in on her looks.

All of the crew have respectable day jobs, they live their criminal lives in complete secrecy and minimise their exposure trying to ensure they never get caught. Obviously they all aren’t as clever as they think they are and the FBI are going after them whenever they get the chance.

And, that’s about all she wrote, or rather, he wrote. It ended before it could get going.
Virginia Madsen as Hope Stevens in Smith, appearing mid-conversation with a slightly amused expression. Her blonde curls frame her face, and the blurred background suggests an indoor setting with natural light.Virginia’s part in Smith is pretty much a supporting one, but she does get to show off her talents. She’s far from convinced by Bobby’s claims of going straight and we see her try to catch him out in his lies. Ironically, it’s her character Hope that is the one with the bigger “past” as we see her deal with parole and attending rehab classes.

It seems however that Virginia might not have been completely happy with her role, she has spoken of her disappointment with her role;

“Well I wasn’t that invested. In the beginning I was because it seemed like Ray and I would get to be Bonny and Clyde. That’s what they sold me and you know, that’s not what I got. What I got! I got a book club. That was the last script. I said “You’re joking. I have a book club!”. And they were like “Oh we swear to god” and I was like “But when do I get my gun?”

I’m a big fan of Johnny Lee Miller, Simon Baker, Amy Smart and of course Ray Liotta so in my eyes this one couldn’t fail when I first heard about it. And how wrong I was. Watching these episodes back I still can’t believe it did as badly as it did. Really is an odd one.

It, weirdly, has a decent rating and generally good reviews on iMDB, Rotten Tomatoes isn’t as kind with a middling rating but all things considered it’s not Hot to Trot bad. Still, at least I know I’m not on my own with liking the show.

Availability:
Well. I think it’s fair to say this isn’t the easiest of things to find. It never got a physical release. You can find downloads of it on YouTube, they aren’t the best (see the captures I’ve used) but they are better than nothing…

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