I would've made for a terribly confused hippie. I can be honest with myself, I don't look good with big hair as evidenced by the Great Gumby Mishap of 1991. Pastel colors aren't really a good look for me, and I have no desire to break from societal restrictions. Plus I have a thing against open toed footwear. But I can support the idea of long haired, tight flower-embroidered pants wearing, braless women who believe in the free love concept. Free love is a good thing. Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock should've been also, but it fails to adequately portray the true significance of the event.
The story revolves around the true story of Eliot Tiber, a closeted young Jewish man working at his parents' hotel in very conservative Bethel, NY. Eliot's parents, Sonia(Imelda Staunton chewing every bit of scenery she can) and Jack(Henry Goodman) are hard working but poor folks. Jack's rather given up on life, no doubt urged to this decision by his golem-esque foot soldier of a wife. She's the type of mother who heaps out criticism by the spoonful in one breath, then offers to fix you something to eat in the next. Faced with impending foreclosure of their business, Eliot notices a news article about the Woodstock Festival, and it's search for a new home after it's license in another town had been pulled. Smelling opportunity for both financial gain and the rare chance to experience what he'd only seen on TV, Eliot picks up the phone and history is set on it's course.
Taking Woodstock isn't truly about the event. It's more of a backstage pass..or a raffle ticket if you were, to the concert itself. We never actually see a moment of the show itself, but we do meet some of the players who helped set it up, including famed organizer Michael Lang. We're introduced to these bit players seemingly in every other scene, but none of them really add much to the story itself, with the exception of Vilma, a transvestite security guard played by Liev Schreiber. I've now seen far more of Liev's legs than I ever cared to, but atleast his performance is one of the few that actually had some energy behind it. James Schamus's script barely touches upon the real meaning or significance behind Woodstock, trading all of that in for heavily stereotyped characters. Everything from Eliot's Jewish parents to the hippies to even Emile Hirsch as a Vietnam vet experiencing flashbacks get skewered here. If you're going to basically ignore Woodstock in a movie about Woodstock, the least you can do is make it interesting. Or funny. Something. I also have to say something about Demetri Martin's performance as Eliot. Look...I know you're always on Comedy Central and stuff...but this acting thing ain't for everybody. I know that when(if?) you went to acting school they told you to speak "real", but that doesn't mean everything needs to..be...said..in a slow..drone...like this. There is emotion in life, buddy. Sheltered does not = soulless.
Ang Lee is one of my favorite directors. I've always marveled at his bold film choices and his unique and imaginative hand behind the camera. His Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is still one of the most breath taking movies I've ever seen, and regardless of what people say his Hulk was in many ways superior to the sequel that followed. Atleast it had a unique look to it. I wish I could blame this film's many problems on the lousy script, which caves in mostly to hippie cliche and a trite story about "finding oneself", but some of that blame is on Lee's shoulders. He uses a very distracting split screen technique for some of the film's key scenes. Bear in mind that these aren't split shots of the same scene, they are of two totally different conversations taking place, but the dialogue remains constant throughout making it nearly impossible to tell what anyone is saying. Maybe the goal was to show just how large an event this had become, to try to capture how crazy and out of control the spectacle had become, but it was mostly just an irritation. He does get a chance to show his imaginative chops during an acid trip sequence featuring Paul Dano and my future ex-wife Kelli Garner. A great scene that shows what Lee can do when at the top of his game.
I'm no aficiando of the time period but I recognize that the Woodstock Festival is one of the touchstone moments in this country's recent history. But Taking Woodstock never gets that point across, despite it's best efforts. There's been many attempts to capture the event in film, and I'm sure there'll be many more. Hopefully the next time will be more like riding a cool wave and less like suffering through a bad acid trip
5/10
