Can Ang Lees gentle “Taking Woodstock” possibly capture the madness and mud of the legendary music festival?
By Stephanie Zacharek Aug. 28, 2009 | Ang Lee’s “Taking Woodstock” is a gentle film that tells the story of how one Elliot Tiber — born Elliot Teichberg — helped a group of ambitious festival organizers find a site for their concert and a place in history. It’s a nice little story, all right. But “Taking Woodstock” is so gentle it barely has enough vitality to stick to the screen. It’s harmless enough as a snapshot of a young man’s awakening to the grand possibilities of adult life, but not particularly effective at capturing the spirit, the thrill or even the mud of this culturally monumental event. Of course, if that’s what you’re after, Michael Wadleigh’s 1970 documentary “Woodstock” is the place to go. Lee seems to know he can’t compete with it, so he doesn’t try (although he does borrow some of its key elements, particularly Wadleigh’s use of split-screen effects). Yet his low-key, free-spirited approach feels dispassionate and disconnected. The movie’s uncharismatic center is E
