For me, the first part of Taking Woodstock was pretty awful. You have Imelda Staunton, miscast as Elliot’s mom, screaming about Jews being gassed while she’s trying to get a bank loan, plus a weird over-the-top drama troupe interpretatively prancing, and living in the barn of Elliot’s family’s motel, and if that weren’t enough, poor Emile Hirsch, so breathtaking in Into the Wild, here making loud noises and a sudden jump out of a car in a PTSD moment as Billy, the Vietnam Vet.

But I should back up. Here is Ang Lee’s “story” of Woodstock. I’m not knocking his Hong Kong background as a dubious credential for making a film about one of the classic iconic events in American history, because, after all, he did give us The Ice Storm, but Lee’s start here was just not a well-blended, well-crafted movie. As I said, Imelda Staunton didn’t cut it as the Jewish mother trying to make it in the Catskills. Her accent wasn’t quite right, gestures too exaggerated, too shrewish. Too many jarring caricatures. A slow-moving start with maybe too much meandering. Whatever. Demetri Martin, of Comedy Central and stand-up fame, played her son and the protagonist of the film. His performance worked throughout, and helped undo the movie’s early falters. He was consistently interesting. Henry Goodman, playing Elliot’s dad, Jake, was very believable and he did his part to enrich the depiction of his relationships with his son and his wife.

And I should really back up even more. As Taking Woodstock opens, Elliot has come from New York and his life as artist and interior designer to the Woodstock area where his parents own a motel, are struggling, and need his help and his financial support. The Woodstock Festival finds itself without a home, locates Elliot, and plans are put in place to have the Fest on Elliot’s neighbor’s land (Eugene Levy does nail Max Yasgur), with Elliot as de-facto coordinator.

With the arrival of the ticket-holders, and not so ticket-holders, the movie shifted for me. It became much more interesting. The culture of the times was put on the screen pretty effectively, and I loved seeing Elliot’s journey with various stops along the way: LSD, sexual exploration, bumping up against his parents, and finally finding some knowingness about himself. Billy mellowed out too.

Extra credit, Ang, for including numerous smallish roles for actors like Paul Dano,  Kelli Garner and Liev Schreiber (wonderful as transvestite “security guard”), giving a brief but bona fide view of an LSD experience, and, most of all, for presenting a balanced picture of the myth that was Woodstock. Penalty points for the split-screen times. Maybe this was some odd homage to the “real” Woodstock movie, or maybe I just didn’t appreciate this artsy touch as much as some other viewers would.

And I could absolutely say more, but I won’t. Only that Taking Woodstock really grew on me, and as I re-watched many of the scenes I slept through on the first round, I did get it. And I was happy I watched it. And as the credits rolled, and Jefferson Airplane launched into “Volunteers”, I was really happy I watched it. – [DVD]

Comedy/Music

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 12/15/09

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