Ang Lee’s latest film Taking Woodstock strangely resembles the famed 1969 cultural event in its structure: rambling, free-spirited, and tripped out … man. Lee and company take one of the most important cultural and musical events of the 20th century’s latter half and give it the ol’ cute and farcical treatment. We’re left with a film that is only intermittingly engaging. Most of the time, I was left wanting less of the sex and drugs and more of the rock n’ roll.
Ang’s first tactical error is casting Comedy Central comedian Demetri Martin in the lead role. Martin plays a young man who, in an attempt to save his parents’ failing hotel in the Catskills, plays a pivotal role in making the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival a reality. I deeply respect Martin’s work as a comedian. I find his deadpan style when delivering jokes about “important things” like chairs and pillow fights quite amusing. As an actor, however, Martin simply sits on screen. Not one ounce of energy radiates from his austere face. This stoical approach works sometimes. However, Martin is in deep trouble each time he is required to show the least bit of emotion.
Minor characters inform us that Hendrix, The Who, Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane are playing Woodstock. The film provides us no visual or audio evidence that these extraordinary musical acts graced the stage in upstate New York, however. In fact, the music is such a small part of Lee’s narrative that we pretty much forget that any great music happened there at all. I would not want actors trying to portray Hendrix or Joplin performing on the Woodstock stage. I would simply like to know more about how the musicians were booked for the gig, how they got to the performing venue—transportation was a major issue with the New York freeway backed up for miles upon miles, and what the performers thought about the energetic, yet tripped-out crowd. None of these questions are given one second of consideration in Lee’s version of the Woodstock experience.
Martin’s character undergoes a transformation throughout the picture. In the beginning, he is a shy, quiet young man whose main concern is helping his parents survive and keep their business. By the end, he is ready to put flowers in his hair, join up with the hippies, and head to San Francisco, leaving his East Coast existence completely in the dust. Man … that must have been some far out acid he dropped in that one scene. Martin’s transformation feels insincere because the actor fails to exude any truth in his portrayal of the character.
Many will want to see Taking Woodstock simply for a nostalgia trip. If you must … you must. I would suggest, though, checking out an informative and well-made documentary by Barbara Kopple called Woodstock: Then and Now. It’s been playing lately on both VH1 and The History Channel. Unlike Lee’s fictional account of the event, Kopple’s documentary doesn’t forget that music happened on that hill in the Catskills.
Ang’s first tactical error is casting Comedy Central comedian Demetri Martin in the lead role. Martin plays a young man who, in an attempt to save his parents’ failing hotel in the Catskills, plays a pivotal role in making the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival a reality. I deeply respect Martin’s work as a comedian. I find his deadpan style when delivering jokes about “important things” like chairs and pillow fights quite amusing. As an actor, however, Martin simply sits on screen. Not one ounce of energy radiates from his austere face. This stoical approach works sometimes. However, Martin is in deep trouble each time he is required to show the least bit of emotion.
Minor characters inform us that Hendrix, The Who, Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane are playing Woodstock. The film provides us no visual or audio evidence that these extraordinary musical acts graced the stage in upstate New York, however. In fact, the music is such a small part of Lee’s narrative that we pretty much forget that any great music happened there at all. I would not want actors trying to portray Hendrix or Joplin performing on the Woodstock stage. I would simply like to know more about how the musicians were booked for the gig, how they got to the performing venue—transportation was a major issue with the New York freeway backed up for miles upon miles, and what the performers thought about the energetic, yet tripped-out crowd. None of these questions are given one second of consideration in Lee’s version of the Woodstock experience.
Martin’s character undergoes a transformation throughout the picture. In the beginning, he is a shy, quiet young man whose main concern is helping his parents survive and keep their business. By the end, he is ready to put flowers in his hair, join up with the hippies, and head to San Francisco, leaving his East Coast existence completely in the dust. Man … that must have been some far out acid he dropped in that one scene. Martin’s transformation feels insincere because the actor fails to exude any truth in his portrayal of the character.
Many will want to see Taking Woodstock simply for a nostalgia trip. If you must … you must. I would suggest, though, checking out an informative and well-made documentary by Barbara Kopple called Woodstock: Then and Now. It’s been playing lately on both VH1 and The History Channel. Unlike Lee’s fictional account of the event, Kopple’s documentary doesn’t forget that music happened on that hill in the Catskills.
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