Hollywood has loved the musical in one shape or another for many years, now comes the musical that isn't, Ang Lee directs "Taking Woodstock" the story about how one of this countries biggest music festivals started, the only thing is Lee doesn't give us any of the performances of this huge event. We get a few shots of a stage way in the distance and we hear some far away music, but with the story arc the performances may have taken away some of the stories power.
It is the summer of 1969 and Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) has to move back upstate to help his parents run their dilapidated Catskills motel, The El Monaco. The banks about to foreclose; his father wants to burn the place down, but hasn't paid the insurance. When Elliot hears that a neighboring town has pulled the permit on an outdoor music festival, he calls the promoters and tell them he has a spot available. Elliot happens to know one of the men who comes out to inspect the property, when his property isn't exactly what they are looking for he tells them that a neighboring farmer has plenty of land they can look at and they agree to go see Max Yasgur (Eugene Levy) and they agree that his land is perfect, they shake hands and come to some financial agreement and this begins what would become the greatest music festival of all time.
Of course the towns people are upset with Elliot, they think the concert will bring nothing but hippie thieves into their quiet little town, they boycott the family hotel and even refuse to drink the milk that Max's cows produce. When thousands of people start to show up Elliot's parents start to split the rooms up and force as many people into each room as they can, when inspectors threaten to close the hotel down, the concert promoters say they will speak with them and hold up a huge bag of money, this seems to close the chapter on the threats. As the concert is going on a group of stage performers begin to perform for the town, the Earthlight Players perform nude on stage and cause the townspeople to again rebel against this type of shows, the performers of course are staying in the barn of Elliot's family business.
When things start to get ugly, the towns people start to vandalize the property, an ex marine named Vilma (Liev Schreiber) agrees to help protect the property, he is of course a cross dresser and here is where the fact that Elliot himself may or may not be gay starts to arise, he has a small crush on one of the workers in the promoters office on the farm, in one scene Elliot is so excited that the festival actually has begun he reaches out and kisses the man. The movie works on many levels and is told with heart and humor, it tells the coming of age story about a man who has already come of age. The running time may feel a little long, but this story is well worth it.
I give Taking Woodstock a 3 and on my avoidance scale a 0, this movie is for fans of music, taking part in the Woodstock experience would have been a thrill of a lifetime, but since many of us were either children of not born yet, here in this movie you can at least be a spectator on the edge of the event. The story is heartwarming and it will amuse you as well. Go and enjoy this trip through time and see for yourself just how much fun this event was, even if you see it from the outside. Ang Lee gives us just enough of the music to let us believe we are there watching from a distance, and this results in an intelligent, funny and dramatic slice of cinematic wonder.
Taking Woodstock is rated R for Graphic Nudity, Some Sexual Content, Drug Use and Language
Running time is 2 hrs. 01 min.
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