Taking Woodstock puts a twist on the classic story of the first and, perhaps, the most generation-defying music festival the USA has ever known. The Tiechberg’s run the El Monaco Inn in the Catskills of New York, and, when the bank is about to foreclose on the inn, they must find a way to save it. This task is left to the youngest member of the family, 20-something year old Elliot (Demitri Martin), who is about to give up when he sees that a music festival has been shut down in a neighboring town because of its conservative folks who don’t want “hippies” ruining their sweet, innocent life. Elliot then has a light bulb moment, works hard to bring Woodstock to White Lake, New York, and the music ensues.
Ang Lee does a wonderful job of bringing life to Woodstock. Most people see it as this great music festival that inspired a generation, and it did, but Lee makes the film personal by making it less about the music, unlike most directors, and more about this family, the Tiechbergs, who need to get out of debt, so they just happen to throw the greatest music fest that’s still remembered today. There’s definitely more to it than that, but you’ll have to see the movie to get the full grasp.
Martin does a wonderful job portraying Elliot, the beaten-down, parentally-guilted grown man, who wants so badly to flee from the Catskills for good, but can’t quite do it because he loves his parents so much and wants to help them because no one else will. His month long endeavor of putting on Woodstock is really a self-journey to figure out who he wants to be in this life, not who his parents want him to be. Martin shows the audience that there are so many facets of Elliot Tiechberg that, when leaving the theatre, you wonder what he will do with the rest of his life. Martin portrays Elliot in a way that you really feel like you know the person and want him to succeed.
Henry Goodman and Imelda Staunton play Jake and Sonia Tiechberg, the overbearing, lifeless parents of Elliot and owners of the motel. These two characters are never boring, but their depth increases with the film. I loved that they are bit crazy, but they definitely need to be to think that Woodstock would be a small festival of just a few thousand people. They are hilarious, in both a witty and physically way, and are almost the real stars of the film, almost.
Emile Hirsch definitely deserves a shout out. Although he portrays a somewhat clichéd character, Billy, a young, Vietnam veteran, who copes his post-traumatic stress disorder in a non-pill popping way by having flashbacks in the woods of the Catskills and living with his older brother and sister-in-law. He is possibly the funniest character in the movie.
A theatre troupe who loves getting naked, a bunch of hippies who love getting high and many people who just love the music makes this film a poignant and realistic representation of the impact Woodstock had on a generation and, especially, a few individuals. You’ll get high just off the story, so leave your bong at home when you check out this glimpse of a generation.
This Apatow-esque indie dramedy set in 1987 has some fabulous indie moments, but, sadly, they are few and far between, which causes this film falls short of expectations. Jesse Eisenberg stars as recent college grad James Brennan whose post-collegiate plans include backpacking though Europe between college graduation and starting graduate school in the big apple. Sadly, his plans are deterred when his parents hit some financial trouble, and he must get a job to pay for grad school instead of playing in Europe for the summer. Where, you ask? The only place that will take him – the local amusement park (that’s actually closer to a fair), Adventureland.
Eisenberg, along with Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, and a bunch of unknowns, show a summer in the life of young adults in various stages of collegiate education, except for Reynolds who plays 30-something, hot scumbag, Adventureland repairman, Mike Connell, who’s permenetly stuck in suburbia. Em (Stewart) is James’ love interest in the film who has so many issues it’s impossible to care about all of her issues or her. On a side note, Em and Bella (Twilight) seem to have the same personality (imagine…). Every plot turn and twist in this movie can be seen coming from a mile away, which, although kind of interesting, fails to compete with other indies of the same nature.
The supporting cast is really what makes this movie any good at all, if only I could remember their names…not because I can’t find them somewhere on the internet, but because even though they’re the best part of this film, they’re unmemorable. This movie could have been witty, endearing, and filled with hilarious, un-cliched one-liners, but it’s barely witty, not endearing, and cliched at every turn. If you still feel the need to see it, rent it from your local public library so you can see it for the least amount of opportunity cost, but I would just rent Little Miss Sunshine instead, and call it a day.
