What’s it about?: It’s 1969 and Elliot Teichberg is back in his hometown of White Lake, New York, struggling in earnest to keep his parents’ dilapidated getaway motel in business. Elliot is a fey, sensitive soul who longs to run away from the deeply set-in-its-ways White Lake to a city with more to offer culturally than weekly chamber of commerce meetings.

Elliot is tied to White Lake by a deeply felt obligation to help his aging parents, both Russian holocaust survivors, maintain the business. Elliot, a painter, does his best to bring the cultural vibrancy he yearns for to his mundane situation by planning far-fetched improvements for the cinder block motel, housing a theater troupe of often naked hippies in the barn, heading the area chamber of commerce and putting on a yearly “music festival” which simply involves him playing his records for anyone who wants to sit in his yard and listen.

When Elliot learns a slightly more large scale music festival has been pushed out of nearby Wallkill, New York (locals there fear the “hippie invasion”), he realizes the permit he obtained for his record party might just work for the bigger event. He makes a few phone calls and subsequently watches history unfold in his front yard.

Who’s in it?: Demetri Martin carries Taking Woodstock as the sweet, sensitive Elliot. Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman each steal a few scenes as his hardened, aging parents. Emile Hirsch does his best with a broadly written bit as a recently returned Vietnam veteran. Eugene Levy is Max Yasgur, the farmer who offers his fields up for the hippie takeover; Liev Schreiber takes a surprisingly poignant turn as Vilma, a cross dressing former army sergeant who heads the security team at the motel; and Paul Dano, Mamie Gummer (daughter of Meryl Streep) and Jonathan Groff are delightful as chill-to-the-core members of the beautiful, and often naked, hippie legion.

What’s good?: Figures like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, whose portrayals could ultimately be distracting, appear only on the soundtrack. Elliot never even makes it all the way down to the stage. Rather than taking on the heart of the Woodstock legend by portraying the musicians who performed there, director Ang Lee uses Eliot’s sweet, anxious, dreamy lens to tell the story.

The focus on this one character serves well to humanize an event steeped in historical lore, and Martin, probably best known for his stand up act, effectively carries the movie. Among characters that at times come across like caricatures, Martin’s performance is nuanced, sad, gentle, wide-eyed and a touch heartbreaking as his character experiences Woodstock as catalyst for self discovery.

Through the use of split screens and multiple cameras, Lee also does a masterful job of creating an excited sense of energy around the fast-paced nuts and bolts planning of the prolific event.

What’s bad?: The writing and acting in the initial scenes feel clunky and wooden, like a bad high school play. The film takes awhile finding its rhythm and devotes a bit too much time setting up Elliot’s White Lake circumstances. The humor in these scenes feels awkward and generally falls flat. Taking Woodstock finally lifts off when the helicopter full of festival planners lands in Elliot’s yard. From here, it’s wholly enjoyable.

Favorite scene?: The film subtly deals with Elliot coming to terms with his homosexuality, and the satisfaction in the moment when he gets a passionate kiss from, and subsequently kisses back, a very attractive man in the midst of a hippie dance party made me want to cheer and cry and relish in his victory.

Parting shot: Taking Woodstock is a bit lackadaisical in its pace and takes awhile to really become engaging. When it does, however, the film is funny, touching and heartfelt. To see what Woodstock meant for one individual provides an understanding of what it likely meant to of the thousands upon thousands of people who experienced history there. Taking Woodstock might not be an especially important film, but its pleasant insights are worth being had.

Bottom line: Hollywood.com rated this film 2 ? stars.

What’s it about?: After contemplating the plight of the corporate middle manager a decade ago with the wickedly funny Office Space, Mike Judge turns his acerbic eye toward the small business owner with his latest comedy, Extract. Arrested Development’s Jason Bateman stars as a Joel Reynold, a successful entrepreneur who built his humble flavoring company into a thriving concern that now stands on the verge of being acquired – for a hefty sum – by breakfast cereal titan General Mills.

But just as Joel is poised to realize his dream of selling his company and retiring early, everything begins to fall apart. A rash of petty robberies creates discord among his employees. An attractive, flirtatious new employee (Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s Mila Kunis) leads him to ponder cheating on his aloof, unaffectionate wife. And worst of all, a lawsuit stemming from a freak accident on the floor of his factory threatens to bankrupt the company. The confluence of personal and professional crises soon has Joel on the precipice of disaster.

What’s good?: Scattered throughout Extract are the seeds of a really clever comedy on par with – or even surpassing – the venerable Office Space. The cast is certainly terrific: Bateman is the perfect choice for the beleaguered, cynical yet well-meaning Joel; the always great J.K. Simmons (Burn After Reading) makes a fine counterpoint as his blunt, no-nonsense second-in-command; Kunis is a superb comic femme fatale as a manipulative con artist at the heart of the pivotal lawsuit; legendary KISS frontman Gene Simmons is an inspired choice to play a shady, ambulance-chasing attorney — an occupation he no doubt would have chosen had he not gotten into rock and roll; even the much-maligned Ben Affleck is effective as Dean, a stoner barkeep who dispenses a hazardous combination of bad advice and hallucinogenic drugs on his best friend Joel.

What’s bad?: For all its impressive ingredients, Extract makes for a surprisingly tepid dish. Much of the same sly wit and clever characterizations that made Office Space such a delight can be found in this film, but not in amounts great enough to sustain it. Most bothersome about Extract is the fact that Kunis’ character, heretofore the catalyst for much of the story’s action, essentially disappears for the latter third of the film. Almost as an afterthought, she’s tossed a brief epilogue during the closing credits that serves to tie up all the loose ends related to her character. It’s emblematic of the movie as a whole.

Parting shot: One aspect of Extract that does pay off is a great subplot involving Dustin Milligan as Brad, an empty-headed gigolo Joel hires as part of a disastrously ill-advised scheme to get his wife Suzie (played by SNL’s Kristen Wiig) to cheat on him first – thus clearing the ethical roadblocks (in his mind, at least) for his unimpeded pursuit of Kunis’ character. But Brad ends up getting a little too wrapped up in his work, making multiple follow-ups to Suzie and ultimately falling in love with his “client.” The “break-up” scene between slow-witted Brad and exasperated Suzie is one of Extract’s highlights.

Bottom line: Hollywood.com rated this film 2 stars.