For the most part, it's a genial pleasure, with something disarmingly daggy -- intentional or not -- about its vision of history and individual experience.
Comment
08/27/09
Taking Woodstock (2009)
49
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:165
Fresh:81
Rotten:84
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Featuring numerous 60s-era clichés, but little of the musical magic that highlighted the famous festival, Taking Woodstock is a breezy but underwhelming portrayal.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Aug 27, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $7,366,736
Synopsis: A generation began in his backyard. From Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), comes Taking Woodstock, a new comedy inspired by the true... [More]
Starring: Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, Imelda Staunton
Director: Ang Lee
Reviews for Taking Woodstock
Top CriticIt's not a bad film but I have a feeling that it's too chaotic. It lacks somehow some central gravitas, despite the comedic elements, to bring it all together.
08/26/09
Top CriticTaking Woodstock takes us behind the scenes at that amazing event, and deals with ordinary people swept up in it. Don’t expect concert scenes, because there are none.
08/26/09
Top CriticIt does at least come across as a portrait of an era that's affectionate, authentic and pleasingly adult in its tone and concerns.
08/26/09
Top CriticThis is the yawning of the Age of Aquarius.
08/26/09
Top CriticDespite the sometimes crazy rhythm, the diverse and exuberant characters bring a sense of fun and merry frivolity to this one small tale about the iconic festival.
08/24/09
Top CriticLee’s sizeable re-creation of the planet’s greatest music festival is a sanitised trip.
08/23/09
Top CriticLike its namesake festival it is crazy, naive, full of hope and features extensive drug use.
08/23/09
Top CriticMuch of the credit must go to Lee's cinematic choices; his use of multi-split screens, the montages that create a clear sense of the vibrantly positive mood infecting everyone and a beautiful acid trip visualisation
08/20/09
Top CriticIt's a terrific story and James Schamus has written an accessible screenplay filled with truths. While all the ingredients are extreme and the subject matter serious (relationships, survival, sexual awakening), there's abundant humour in the characters an
08/20/09
Top CriticNão se revela particularmente interessante ou minimamente revelador no que diz respeito à natureza de Woodstock ou do próprio protagonista.
11/13/09
A minor work from Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee that is enjoyable but ultimately underwhelming.
11/13/09
This may be a minor movie, but it displays the hallmarks of a major talent.
11/13/09
Achieves the highly improbable by making one of the most exciting events of the 1960s look really boring.
11/13/09
A rare misfire for the usually reliable Lee.
11/13/09
Top CriticTaking Woodstock is entertaining, funny but also very slight film. Unlike the real Woodstock, it won’t change lives or burn in the memory.
11/13/09
his is by no means a terrible film, but from a filmmaker as exceptional as Ang Lee it's a rare disappointment.
11/13/09
Taking Woodstock will leave the unstoned cold and won’t have anyone aching for those legendary ‘three days of peace and music’ that wasn’t there in the first place.
11/13/09
Some will revel in it, but (younger) viewers may find Taking Woodstock old hat.
11/13/09
Ang Lee's latest dissection of the American dream is one of his most complex and even most deceptively subversive films.
11/13/09
Latest News for Taking Woodstock
November 13, 2009:
James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
James Schamus might be a workaholic. If it's not enough that he's the head of Focus Features -- the independent imprint of Universal -- he's also an established producer and... More...
November 12, 2009:
Five Favourite Films with Ang Lee
The rule that no two Ang Lee movies are ever the same is confidently kept intact with the release of his latest, Taking Woodstock, a comedy about the true story behind the... More...
August 27, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Guess Halloween 2's Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got the return of Michael Myers (Halloween 2, starring Malcolm McDowell and Scout Taylor-Compton), three dimensional fatalities (The Final... More...
August 27, 2009:
Box Office Guru Preview: Fans Choose Sides in Horror Showdown
In a move that studios rarely make these days, two films from the exact same genre open opposite each other on the same day targeting much of the same audience. The Weinstein... More...
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