What was supposed to be some string quartet in Elliot (Demetri Martin’s) father’s barn, instead turns into the biggest hippie musical gathering in history. In a small town in the Catskills called Bethel, an immigrant couple, Sonia and Jake (Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman) are about to have their home and farm repossessed by the bank. Their son, Elliot phones an agent that he reads about in a newspaper article whose music permit has been pulled for Janis Joplin, etc. Coincidentally, Elliot (true story) has a permit for his little quartet. As one-hundred thousand people turn into over a million and descend on their little farm – including a Vietnam vet, Billy (Emile Hirsch) – we hope to be drawn into what it may have been like to attend Woodstock. But we’re not. Instead we stand on the outside of the experience like the many hippies who never got close enough to hear Joan Baez or Hendrix perform. And the questions we long to have answered never are. Like how did/where did all those singers land helicopters in order to infiltrate the crowds? The only time the viewer feels a touch psychedelic is when a young woman takes an acid trip and tells us to “just breathe.” Interesting enough the team behind this movie, director Ang Lee, has had a fascination with Woodstock since his 70s movie “The Ice Storm.” And the writer, James Schamus has had a fascination with homosexuality in characters with his history of two impressive Oscar nominated films – “Milk” (which his company Focus Features distributed) and “Brokeback Mountain” (directed by Ang Lee, distributed by Focus also). Yet, this one carefully steers clear of addressing Elliot’s sexuality and is supposed to bring us into Woodstock. Instead, in the end, it feels like the mud bath that it was. One tiara
