Taking Woodstock

In Taking Woodstock, the fabled music festival with Jimi, Janis, and Arlo is simply the background for filmmaker Ang Lee's low-key, lightweight personal story about Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin), a semi-closeted gay painter/interior designer in Greenwich Village who spends weekends in the Catskills town of Bethel helping his Russian-Jewish immigrant parents (Henry Goodman and Imelda Staunton) keep their rundown El Monaco Motel from bankruptcy. As president of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce, Elliot offers the use of El Monaco as a base camp for Woodstock Ventures after the company loses its permit for an arts festival in nearby Wallkill. He also brokers a deal between festival organizer Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff) and Max Yasgur (Eugene Levy), who owns a 600-acre dairy farm down the road (yes, the festival was held in Bethel, not Woodstock). Chaos reigns when Elliot drops acid with an Age of Aquarius couple (Kelli Garner and Paul Dano) amidst the naked hippies in the mud. Riffing on Tiber's memoir (written with Tom Monte), Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert and a Life, James Schamus' screenplay rambles, its sprawling fragmentation emphasized by Lee's kaleidoscopic use of multiple cameras and a split screen. Martin, a stand-up comedian, doesn't measure up to the dramatic demands of the leading role, but Liev Schreiber is memorable as a macho, transsexual ex-Marine security guard, and you can glimpse Meryl Streep's daughter, Mamie Gummer, as Lang's supposed girlfriend. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Ang Lee and writer James Schamus, a “Peace, Love and Cinema” behind-the-scenes featurette (20 min.), deleted scenes (7 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are a “No Audience Required: The Earthlight Players” featurette on the real-life theater group (4 min.), additional deleted scenes, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)