Starring

Demetri Martin, Henry Goodman, Edward Hibbert, Imelda Staunton

In Brief

I’m not sure entirely how true this story is – but it centers around a young Elliot Tiber, a struggling young interior designer doing his best to save his parent’s dilapidated motel in White Lake, NY and to figure out how to come out to his parents. When Elliot hears that the permits for the Woodstock festival have been pulled by the town of Woodstock, he extends an offer to the organizers. The infamous Michael Lang and company assemble and woodstock lives… in White Lake, NY.

The Beef

This movie hasn’t been reviewed well. I think the problem is not the movie or story itself, but in people’s expectations for the story they’re going to see. This is NOT the story of Woodstock. If you want to see that, you should shoot for the 1970s Original. This is the story of Elliot Tiber, the young man who brought Woodstock to White Lake. Indeed, you don’t even see much (re: any) music in this movie.

For a lot, I’m sure their expectations about which story they were coming to see have tainted the movie. But I think Ang Lee resisted the temptation to move the focus away from Elliot and towards Woodstock as a whole. This movie is an enjoyable coming-of-age story with a much lighter tone than most of Lee’s films. I have a tough time characterizing it as a Comedy, as it’s been billed, but it was a good film none-the-less. I think this movie effectively uses the backdrop of Woodstock to strike an odd balance – managing to survive in the no-man’s land of films that aren’t funny enough to be comedies, but are too light for the story to carry them as dramas.
4/5 (Good)

Weigh In

213 lbs.

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