Unlike some members of my generation, I've never been particularly nostalgic for the 1960s and 70s. When I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I didn't feel especially sad that I missed out on an era when my bountiful neuroses would have been met with electric shock therapy. And I have yet to think to myself, "Self, if only you could have been a college student during a time when political unrest and turmoil were rampant and protesting on campus would have gotten you hella shot sometimes."Consequently, I went to see Ang Lee's dramatic comedy Taking Woodstock-which, as the title implies, concerns the legendary 1969 music festival-with only a limited knowledge of that psychedelic era and the belief that it was dominated entirely by frolicking Communist hippies.

Unfortunately for the improvement of my level of open-mindedness and anyone looking for a subtle but enlightening jaunt through the 1960s, Taking Woodstock is essentially a nearly two-hour exhibition of stereotypes.

I knew the film wasn't headed anywhere good when, 10 minutes after Taking Woodstock began, its writers began embroidering Elliot Teichberg's story with scenes in which his Jewish mother heatedly proclaims in the middle of an unassuming bank that she did not (to paraphrase) escape pogroms with nothing but potatoes in her pockets only to see her clan denied a loan, on account of its religious affiliation, that would salvage the family business. And I really knew the film wasn't headed anywhere good when, five minutes later, Eli leads a Chamber of Commerce meeting during which a woman obviously meant to be a na've, sweetly anti-Semitic back-country yokel suggests that in order to raise money, the town should bring together the local dairy cows to meander after visitors in a faux Running of the Bulls, remarking that it would be "charming to see the cattle chasing those Jews!"

Now, I have no doubt that such racist/religionist sentiments were common during the late 1960s. However, to see the film deal with these issues in such a heavy-handed manner while simultaneously portraying ethnic groups in such insulting ways is just distasteful. Indeed, the film wouldn't have left such a bad taste in my mouth had the above scenes been the only offending events, but Taking Woodstock continues down the road laid by the aforementioned incidents throughout its entire duration: Hippies greet helicopters naked, Vietnam veterans do nothing but drop the F-bomb and have flashbacks, and the Teichbergs scam customers visiting the family's hotel in order to fulfill Elliot's mother's dream of tripling their money. For instance, at one point later in the film after the title concert has brought them abundant funds, Elliot asks his mother to "stop thinking about money," and at another he finds her sleeping on a bed of cash.

In addition to being borderline offensive, Taking Woodstock can't seem to decide what plotlines it wants to follow. Granted, it does follow Elliot's role in the development of Woodstock, but along the way it features more half-developed stories than a hippie has pieces of drug paraphernalia. (Note: Taking Woodstock is the one that informed me that all hippies are horrible drug addicts, so please cease hating, haters.)

Taking Woodstock has a few scenes detailing each of the following dilemmas: Elliot's discovery of homosexuality, the animosity of the townspeople toward the concert and the Teichburgs' and Elliot's familial struggles. Ultimately, none of these threads are truly tied up, and we're left with a half-finished portrait of Elliot's reality.

And the fact that the movie skips over the concert in its entirety only further lends to this feeling of incompleteness. Taking Woodstock spends an hour and a half leading up to the grand event to include it only as a source of background noise and neglects to include any actual footage of the concert. Granted, I wasn't expecting the film to be a documentary, but I would at least liked to have seen some kind of reference to the musical performances that made the concert so legendary. That, and the film does choose to include video recordings from the era-it's just not of Woodstock. Rather, footage featured in the movie is of the traffic back-up the concert caused and of the moon landing, which didn't actually take place during the time frame in which the film takes place.

The film's only redeeming feature is its reference to the political atmosphere of the late 1960s; the interest groups that flock to the concert and the portrayal of young men burning draft cards brings depth that is lacking throughout the majority of the film.

Ultimately, Taking Woodstock makes its namesake and the era in which it took place seem as though it is something best forgotten rather than a time and an event to be celebrated. I'm sick of films spending 10 to 15 minutes re-enacting drug-induced hallucinations; I've never dabbled in that kind of venture personally, but I'm fairly sure that the groovy blending of colors Hollywood employs as a representation of an acid trip is nothing like the actual experience.