The most deceitful part of this movie is its title. The plot revolves around a shy, closet homosexual who must find the courage to break free from his suffocating and rather depressing parents. It is a gentle story, very well narrated but it has very little to do with Woodstock.
Elliot is gay and lives in New York but during summer he helps his family managing a dreadful "resort" up north. This crumbling down, miserable hotel is run with minimum maintenance and even less interest by his parents. Elliot's mother is the stuff a Freudian nightmare. His father sort of disappears in the picture. However, this is summer 1969 and "something" is about to happen.
Some critics mentioned the fact that the actor playing Elliott is not charismatic enough to hold attention. Personally, I think somebody too charismatic would have been a mistake. This story is supposed to be about ordinary people and it definitely does not require any star quality. In fact, everybody in the cast does a decent job and nothing bad can be said about the acting.
The problem is that many other "famous" events could have been used as a catalyst background for this story. Unfortunately, Woodstock was chosen but we do not get to see any of it or to hear any great songs. How disappointing it is to be so close to the stage and actually hear absolutely nothing? I felt cheated, as if I paid for the ticket but did not get any show.
Of course, the largest part of the public in real Woodstock must have gone through the same experience, but they probably did not care because they were stoned most of the time. What we get instead of good music is shy Elliot coming out one drunken, busy evening.
We get to see the crowds, the traffic, the mess, the lack of toilets in short all the organizational nightmares and part of the fun, the drinking and the parties but absolutely nothing of the music. I repeat, it is amazing that a movie like this has such a drab soundtrack. The only decent song is played while end titles are running and it is a brand new one, written in 2009. Even if this is not a documentary about Woodstock, I think some original music should have been a must. Otherwise, why choosing Woodstock?
Elliot is gay and lives in New York but during summer he helps his family managing a dreadful "resort" up north. This crumbling down, miserable hotel is run with minimum maintenance and even less interest by his parents. Elliot's mother is the stuff a Freudian nightmare. His father sort of disappears in the picture. However, this is summer 1969 and "something" is about to happen.
Some critics mentioned the fact that the actor playing Elliott is not charismatic enough to hold attention. Personally, I think somebody too charismatic would have been a mistake. This story is supposed to be about ordinary people and it definitely does not require any star quality. In fact, everybody in the cast does a decent job and nothing bad can be said about the acting.
The problem is that many other "famous" events could have been used as a catalyst background for this story. Unfortunately, Woodstock was chosen but we do not get to see any of it or to hear any great songs. How disappointing it is to be so close to the stage and actually hear absolutely nothing? I felt cheated, as if I paid for the ticket but did not get any show.
Of course, the largest part of the public in real Woodstock must have gone through the same experience, but they probably did not care because they were stoned most of the time. What we get instead of good music is shy Elliot coming out one drunken, busy evening.
We get to see the crowds, the traffic, the mess, the lack of toilets in short all the organizational nightmares and part of the fun, the drinking and the parties but absolutely nothing of the music. I repeat, it is amazing that a movie like this has such a drab soundtrack. The only decent song is played while end titles are running and it is a brand new one, written in 2009. Even if this is not a documentary about Woodstock, I think some original music should have been a must. Otherwise, why choosing Woodstock?