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Poster for Taking Woodstock

Taking Woodstock

A generation began in his backyard.

2009 · 2h · R Comedy, Drama, Music
Directed by Ang Lee

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Overview

The story of Elliot Tiber and his family, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the famed Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the happening that it was. When Elliot hears that a neighboring town has pulled the permit on a hippie music festival, he calls the producers thinking he could drum up some much-needed business for his parents' run-down motel. Three weeks later, half a million people are on their way to his neighbor’s farm in White Lake, New York, and Elliot finds himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life–and American culture–forever.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
47%
Tomatometer
Fresh

This may be a minor movie, but it displays the hallmarks of a major talent.

Tom Huddlestone, Time Out
Rotten

Too much of Taking Woodstock seems barely sketched out.

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
Rotten

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.

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
Fresh

This is very light material, and, unusually for a Lee picture, not everybody in the ensemble appears to be acting in the same universe, let alone the same story. On the other hand: It's fun.

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
Fresh

Taking Woodstock has the appeal of an inside story told from an especially good angle. But beyond that, the movie is a celebration of the way this event has gone into memory and of the meaning it has acquired.

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

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