Demetri Martin stars as Elliot Tibor in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock. Tibor introduced the Woodstock festival team to Max Yasgur, who rented out his farm for the sprawling 1969 concert. The movie recreates the period, but in Lee's hands it feels soggy like the mud the farm turned into.

Recreating Woodstock is no small feat. Tony Goldwyn gave it a try in 1999's A Walk on the Moon, which focused on a New York family vacationing near Bethel, the site of Yasgur's Farm, and the transformation they go through during that magical summer.

Taking Woodstock is about another traditional family caught in the eye of the Woodstock storm. Tibor and his parents run El Monaco, a nearby motel. When Elliot (the movie is based on his book) hears the festival has been booted out of Woodstock (20 miles away), he calls organizer Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff) and offers his property as a substitute site. With Yasgur (Eugene Levy) aboard, the festival is back on.

A straight shooter, Tibor gradually comes around as the hippies move in and take over El Monaco and the surrounding farmland. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands show up and, with little security and lots of holes in the fence, Lang and others annouce it's a free concert.



Tibor's awakening occurs on a number of levels as he leaves the hotel and immediately finds himself inside a trippy VW van (above). The couple feed him LSD, but Lee's version of a trip is so hackneyed (staring at bad tie-dyes) and poorly executed you really have to wonder if they took the notorious bad brown acid instead. After he's kissed by a girl (Kelli Garner), Tibor lip-locks with a guy (Paul Dano), and appears to enjoy that better.

Like A Walk on the Moon, there's no live music in Taking Woodstock. While the soundtrack includes era classics like "Wooden Ships," "Freedom," "Goin' Up the Country" and "Volunteers," it's all in the background. Rather than watching scintillating performances, we see the crowd dancing, mud-sliding and generally blissing out.

Supporting roles by Emile Hirsch as embittered Vietnam War vet Billy; Liev Schreiber as drag queen Vilma (he played the dad in A Walk on the Moon); and Dan Fogler as Devon, leader of the Earthlight Players guerrilla theater troupe, provide color and depth. In his first leading role, standup comic Martin sheds some skin, but never really dives into the character (except when he's literally sliding down a muddy slope). Martins' Tibor is just too ambivalent and uptight to truly enjoy himself during the defining moment of the '60s.

Lee (Brokeback Mountain; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is a great director. Unfortunately, he's a little out of his league here. Despite all the pot smoking and LSD gobbling in Taking Woodstock, you can take it or leave it.

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