Everyone knows about Woodstock, the concert that advertised three days of peace and music that took place in upstate New York in 1969.  It’s possibly the most popular and famous concert that ever took place.  But events as big as this don’t generally just happen, and Taking Woodstock is the movie that tells the lesser known story of Elliot Tiber, who helped to secure the plot of land that has since become a historical landmark.  It is upon his autobiography that the film is based.As the film opens, Elliot is a young painter who is trying to help his immigrant parents maintain their crumbling “resort” hotel.  In an attempt to bring in business, Elliot has been putting on a yearly arts festival that amounts to little more than a record player on stage.   This year, however, things will be different.  When he hears that a nearby town has turned away a proposed concert that would include the likes of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, Elliot uses his permit and a neighbor’s large plot of farmland to lure the concert organizers.The movie isn’t really about the concert… or even the preparation for the concert.  Once Elliot straightens out the details and secures the concert, the details of the behind-the-scenes preparation are mostly handled in the background.  Challenges, such as the disapproving locals and the mob’s interest in getting their hand in the cookie jar, are brought up but never really resolved.   As for the concert, during the three days of actual performances, the only time we get close to the stage is when no one is performing due to the danger of electric shock.  Instead, the film attempts to express the emotion and overall feeling that the concert brought the country in a time of turmoil.It does this by moving along at a laid-back, “hippie” pace that unfortunately does not blend well with modern audiences and their short attention spans.  I think of myself as a more patient audience member, but even I was finding it difficult to remain interested in the slow-moving film.  There are flashes of pure fun, such as when Elliot and his Vietnam War veteran buddy take advantage of the recent rain storm that turned a grassy hill into a muddy slip-and-slide, but there are also scenes like an LSD trip, that just brings the already languid movie to a screeching halt.Perhaps in an attempt to break up the monotony, director Ang Lee reverts back to his Hulk stylistics by splitting up the screen into multiple pieces.  At times there may be three or four different things going on at once.  The dialogue is also broken up, fading out of one screen while it fades in on another.  This does succeed in relaying the chaotic nature of preparing such a big concert in a limited amount of time, but it doesn’t necessarily succeed in making the film more interesting.Woodstock was certainly a fascinating event and much of the details behind it were as well, but unfortunately a lack of any real conflict and hardly any memorable moments keep Taking Woodstock from being a fascinating study of the event.Taking Woodstock is rated R for “graphic nudity, some sexual content, drug use and language.”  Remember, this is Woodstock; so yes, there is plenty of sex, drugs, and public bathing.  It would have been false had it not gone for the R rating. Courtesy of a local publicist, Jeff attended a promotional screening of Taking Woodstock.