Taking Woodstock
The new comedy from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee. A 1969-set true story about Elliot Tiber (played by great stand-up comedian Demetri Martin, see him here) who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making Woodstock the famed happening it was.
Working as an interior designer in Greenwich Village, Tiber felt empowered by the gay rights movement. But he was also still staked to the family business – a motel in up-state New York. After hearing that a concert had lost its permit from a neighboring town, Tiber called producer Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff) at Woodstock Ventures to offer his motel. Soon the Woodstock staff was moving into the El Monaco, half a million people were on their way to Tiber’s neighbour’s (Eugene Levy) farm and Tiber found himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life, and American culture, forever.
- Director:
- Ang Lee ('Brokeback Mountain', 'Lust, Caution', 'Hulk', 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', 'The Ice Storm')
- Writer:
- James Schamus
- Cast:
- Demetri MartinLiev SchreiberJeffrey Dean MorganEmile HirschPaul DanoImelda StauntonEugene LevyJonathan Groff
Reviews & comments
Woodstock? Not really
Nice story about a boy and his parents learning to find their own way in the world. . . Woodstock seemed to be a part of this movie but not the part that I wanted it to be. Missed the music and felt manipulated when they showed us the stage from an acid haze! Really? Was that as close as we could get? Sorry, was pretty under-whelmed!
Review
Variety
pressGentle, genial and about as memorable as a mild reefer high, “Taking Woodstock” takes a backdoor approach to revisit the landmark musical weekend through the antics and efforts of some of the people who made it happen.
Urban Cinefile
pressOne thing is for sure, life could never be the same after Woodstock. Ang Lee's film is a hypnotic carpet ride that allows us to understand that - close up and from afar.
Newshub
pressA very average movie set against the backdrop of one of music’s most important events of all time. Elliot’s story just isn’t as interesting as everything else going on. If you’re interested in Woodstock, I’d recommend the fantastic doco Woodstock, 3 Days of Peace & Music.
Hollywood Reporter
pressThe name Woodstock evokes so many themes in the mind from the 1960s counterculture to the explosion of youth music and sexual liberation. Yet Ang Lee's new film "Taking Woodstock" runs counter to any expectations that a world-class director would plumb the meaning of this transforming event. Instead Lee delivers an entertaining light comedy about a real-life person who somewhat inadvertently helped the whole iconic concert to take place.
Dominion Post
pressIf you're after a definitive reimagining of the legendary festival, this isn't it. Taking Woodstock is a little hippy, and a little trippy, but for a film based on a supposedly mind-blowing event, it falls well short.
Variety
pressGentle, genial and about as memorable as a mild reefer high, “Taking Woodstock” takes a backdoor approach to revisit the landmark musical weekend through the antics and efforts of some of the people who made it happen.
Urban Cinefile
pressOne thing is for sure, life could never be the same after Woodstock. Ang Lee's film is a hypnotic carpet ride that allows us to understand that - close up and from afar.
Newshub
pressA very average movie set against the backdrop of one of music’s most important events of all time. Elliot’s story just isn’t as interesting as everything else going on. If you’re interested in Woodstock, I’d recommend the fantastic doco Woodstock, 3 Days of Peace & Music.
Hollywood Reporter
pressThe name Woodstock evokes so many themes in the mind from the 1960s counterculture to the explosion of youth music and sexual liberation. Yet Ang Lee's new film "Taking Woodstock" runs counter to any expectations that a world-class director would plumb the meaning of this transforming event. Instead Lee delivers an entertaining light comedy about a real-life person who somewhat inadvertently helped the whole iconic concert to take place.
Dominion Post
pressIf you're after a definitive reimagining of the legendary festival, this isn't it. Taking Woodstock is a little hippy, and a little trippy, but for a film based on a supposedly mind-blowing event, it falls well short.
Woodstock? Not really
Nice story about a boy and his parents learning to find their own way in the world. . . Woodstock seemed to be a part of this movie but not the part that I wanted it to be. Missed the music and felt manipulated when they showed us the stage from an acid haze! Really? Was that as close as we could get? Sorry, was pretty under-whelmed!
Review
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