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Derek Malcolm's rating
Taking Woodstock is not Ang Lee's finest
By
Derek Malcolm
13 Nov 2009
Ang Lee’s attempt to put the Swinging Sixties on the screen with love, respect and a dash of humour is a distinct disappointment.
Taking Woodstock is largely set at the shabby El Monaco Hotel, not far from the site of the three-day concert.
Tiber (Demetri Martin), a gay decorator from New York, visits the hotel to help save his parents (Henry Goodman and a miscast Imelda Staunton) from bankruptcy.
After being introduced to LSD he gets a local farmer and an ambitious impresario to work together to produce what became one of the defining events of the Sixties.
All this is substantially true, but Ang Lee makes a very gentle comedy out of it. You’ll like the music better than the dialogue.
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