http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1127896/

Ang Lee is an interesting director, he has done everything from family dramas, to gay romance, to martial arts, and of course The Hulk. This is another one of his most unexpected films. Many people will see this thinking it is about woodstock and about the music when it really isnt. It is about the life of the man who made it possible, and the people around him. Woodstock just happens to be the event. The cast of this film is mostly great, Imelda Staunton, Emile Hersch, Eugene Levy, Paul Dano and Dan Fogler are all great. Problem is, Demetri Martin isn't. He is the one weak link in the cast, and when he is the star of the film it is a pretty big problem. I like his comedy, but he cannot cut it when it comes to drama. His face is blank most of the time and when he tries to sound emotional it ends up sounding whiny and forced. I kinda wish Emile Hersch played his role instead since he is a much better actor. Thankfully this film avoids being overly sentimental to hippies, which is good because hippies annoy me and I don't think they were that interesting in the slightest. When the film does stray into brainless hippie nonsense it fits scene, Paul Dano especially plays a great hippie who has makes Demetri Martin take acid. The results are one of the best acid trip scenes I have watched in a while, it was very trippy. One problem this film has is that it doesnt seem to know where it is going, which makes sense because that is what the main character is like. When the film tries to show Martin's family problems it usually works because Imelda Staunton is a fantastic actress and her role as the slightly over the top mom is the best in the film, but again Demetri Martin is the weak link. He is too dull and dry to deliver drama well. The town the film is set in is very against the hippies coming in, and for a while we see scenes of the townfolk protesting and see their reaction to Martin's character. This eventually gets forgotten though and instead we get to see Demetri Martin's slow descent into the hippie life. I personally would have liked to see more of him and the people of the town interacting, but that is not what the film is about so I understand why it was left out.

His new life changes him and makes him see the world in a different way, but it also makes him into an even weaker person who can't confront people. He falls for the hippie life easily, and his parents seem to hate it for most of the film. One of the only characters who is a real person in the sense that he doesn't try to be a hippie to fit into a crowd, is Vilma who is an ex army transvestite who is hired as security. Through his lonliness and isolation from everyone in the film we see that many of these hippies who think they are unique are the exact opposite. Vilma is who he is, doesn't matter if you like it or not. Through him we get a look at demetri martin's character's lonliness and inner struggle to break out and be accepted. He is moving with the flow of the crowd, and It is a mix of bliss, and sadness that Martin changes his life to fit into the hippie one while he ignores the only person who is really unique. I can't tell whether this film is anti hppie or pro hippie. It shows the dirty side of their life and the mud, but it also gets very sentimental at times when it shows them. I think it keep a good balence though, and I would not want to watch a film that is overly sentimental to hippies since they annoy me. Not much happens in this film aside from showing the lives of the people who made woodstock happen. There is no concert footage and minimal use of 60's music. It is apparent what time the film is set in by the music, but it doesn't beat you over the head with it. Another weak link is Emile Hersch's character, he is great in this film and I understand why his character is in the film since the vietnam war has to be in a film like this. His character seemed a bit generic though, and nothing we haven't seen before. I would recommend this film to any ang lee fan, but not to those who want to see a film about just woodstock. This film could have been much better without Demetri Martin.

Overall I give it a 6.5 out of 10.