Academy Award winning director Ang Lee believes in keeping his options open, something which is evident by a filmography that ranges to include everything from period dramas to comic book films. It didn’t come as too much of a surprise when the director signed on to direct Taking Woodstock, a film based on Elliot Tiber’s book of the same name, but regardless, a few folks were surprised to see that the film sounded like it could have fair bit of comedy something which, from my incomplete viewing of his catalogue, he hasn’t done in the past.

The film tells Tiber’s story, the young man who essentially saved Woodstock by providing a venue for the troubled concert, and stars Demetri Martin in the lead role but it’s the supporting cast that excites me: Imelda Staunton, Liev Schreiber, Eugene Levy, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Dan Fogler, Paul Dano and the great Emile Hirsch playing a Vietnam veteran.

The trailer is cute, particularly the introduction by Martin, but the rest of it is flat. Highlights include the music (if the music didn’t stand out I think we’d really have a problem) and Hirsch and sadly, it seems to me that he’s only a small part of the film. I’m hopeful that the film offers more than the trailer because as it stands now, this is only a minor blip on the radar. Still, it could be fun and it’s been a while since I visited the 60s.

Taking Woodstock opens on August 14th.

Thanks to Geek Tyrant, trailer is tucked under the seat!