robinski34 This was not the film that I was expecting, I guessed as much when I saw Ang Lee's name role past in the opening credits, and the notion was confirmed two hours later. I thought I was in for whimsical comedy and free spirited stoner philosophising, but the reality is somewhat different. In the end it is a more personal voyage of discovery for the central character, however once things are set in motion his involvement feels peripheral, and events happen around him, driven by others. There are some stand-out performances, Imelda Staunton is priceless as the protagonist's mother and she and the excellent Henry Goodman create a fascinating relationship that is central to the film. Demetri Martin's turn in the central role is rather low key by comparison, and that may be the problem, since everyone else seems larger than life, his performance gets lost in the 'far out' stuff going on around him. The hallucinogenic scenes are well done, and there is a brief burst of action, centred on Mr. Goodman, but largely the pacing is flat, and this does not help. Perhaps the most telling thing is that this is a 2 hour film about a music festival with almost no musical performances in it. I think that would confound most people's expectations. It certainly did mine.

rooprect A movie about Woodstock with no Woodstock music. For the musicians & serious music lovers out there, that's all you need to know. Rent Jimi Hendrix - Wild Blue Angel instead.While this isn't a bad story on its own, I wanted to warn those of you who, like me, may be fooled by deceptive marketing into thinking this is a true story about the famous Woodstock concert. First, it's not true (we'll get to that later). But even worse, it has very little to do with the great concert and totally drops the ball by featuring no music from the event advertised in the title of the film.So if you're expecting to see/hear a nostalgic trip featuring music by Janis, Jimi, Ravi, The Who, The Dead, Jefferson Airplane, or any of the other entities that made up the soul of Woodstock, you'll be sorely disappointed. They aren't even a footnote.So what the heck is "Taking Woodstock" about? It's about a guy named Elliot Tiber who published a book in 2007 claiming that he was the one who made Woodstock happen. This claim has been subsequently refuted by the true concert organizer, Michael Lang, and the man on whose farm the concert was held, Max Yasgur. Both Lang and Yasgur are depicted in the film as friends of Elliot Tiber, but in reality they didn't know him, and Max has stated that he never met Elliot.All this is tolerable because, after all, this is a movie not a documentary. Some of the greatest films ever made took wild liberties with the truth, such as "Amadeus". But unlike "Amadeus" which is a powerful depiction of a man's vindictive struggle against god, "Taking Woodstock" is simply about some loser claiming he's more important than he is, giving us an autobiography of a rather uneventful existence by attaching himself to a grand event such as Woodstock.I repeat, the Woodstock concert is barely a footnote. Instead we get the rather common story of a boy who's coming to terms with his selfish mother, coming to terms with his homosexuality and coming to terms with drugs and hippy freedom. Director Ang Lee tries his best to keep us on the Woodstock topic by showing oodles of disorienting, 8mm hand-held shots of hippies and miscellaneous 60s chaos, but it can't cover up the fact that this is basically just an autobiography of Elliot Tiber.I'm told that this is a comedy. I suppose there were a few swats at humor, cutting to random weird scenes like a bunch of hippies stripping their clothes off and praying to a helicopter, or a bunch of hippies stripping their clothes off and shouting at a crowd of people. There's also a "comic relief" character who is a Vietnam vet suffering flashbacks of the jungle (yeah possibly disrespectful to Vietnam vets).If you want to see this movie you should head to your local Blockbuster where you can find this DVD for sale in the bargain bin for $2. It's entertaining enough to warrant 2 bucks but not much more.========ALTERNATE RECOMMENDATIONS========If you want to see a funny hippy movie, check out "Grand Theft Parsons", a dramatized "true story" of what happened to singer Gram Parson's body after he died.If you want to see an entertaining movie about an unsung hero behind the scenes of a famous event, look for the obscure Australian comedy "The Dish" about the lonely radio outpost that broadcast the moon landing in 1969.If you want a movie with some cool 60s music, see "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" or "Pirate Radio".And lastly, if you want to see a movie about a guy who wrote a book claiming to be something he's not, check out "The Hoax" about the man who claimed to have interviewed the mysterious Howard Hughes."Taking Woodstock" doesn't fit into any of the above categories, despite what the DVD cover promises. Instead it's an OK coming-of-age flick about a boy realizing his independence.

Nighthawk1 I expected more from Ang Lee. The movie depicts the spirit and atmosphere of Woodstock and the corresponding time period. The problem is that the movie is too quirky and not dramatic enough. The acting is alright but the script is sub-par. Additionally it feels unpolished and rough around the edges and not dramatic enough. Maybe it was the way the director wanted the movie to come across. The movie didn't fully come together and left me feeling unsatisfied at its conclusion. Ang Lee has direct many great movies in the past; this isn't one of them. Its not his worst though. Hulk is his worst. The movie isn't great it isn't terrible either.

MLDinTN more music since it's about Woodstock. But there's hardly any music and the plot was boring. The movie is about how Woodstock came to be in a small New York community, but I'm sure this is not a true story. There probably isn't any truth to it at all.Elliot is trying to help his parents whom run a small hotel in New York. They are behind in payments and have the summer to pay off the bank. Elliot gets a permit to have a festival. Woodstock was planned in another town, but it fell through, so they come to Elliot. He already has the permit and they find the farmland, so decided to have Woodstock there. A lot of the film is how he and his parents make a lot of money by renting out the hotel and other stuff.FINAL VERDICT: I don't recommend it.