"Taking Woodstock" promotional poster from Focus Features
Director Ang Lee’s comedy “Taking Woodstock” falls short of expectations with its frazzled plot, poor character development and neglect of the sonic wonder of the historic event.
The movie follows Elliot Tiber (comedian Demetri Martin) in his struggle to maintain his family’s beloved El Monaco Resort. When Tiber becomes aware that negotiations between Woodstock and another small town have ended, he seizes the opportunity and volunteers his town. Soon after, waves of people begin to penetrate the Greenwich Village community. Tiber is ridiculed by the town locale for bringing “hippies” to destroy the community, but in the end the El Monaco Resort flourishes economically as a result of the festival.
A slew of actors play small roles in influencing the evolution of Elliot Tiber, but they make only minute dents in the vast empire of Woodstock. The film features performances from actors Liev Schreiber, Eugene Levy, Emile Hirsch and Jonathan Groff, whose main contribution to the film was his catch phrase, “Far out!”
Throughout the anti-climactic movie the audience sees the revolution of man, the unity of the people, and “three days of peace and music.” However, Lee must have forgotten the true ideology behind Woodstock, as the film completely lacks the key element of the festival—music.
The film suffers from a lack of character depth and the poor acting ability of Martin handicaps the rest of the story.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Leonard Martinez at Leonard.Martinez@colorado.edu.
