It’s 1969, and Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin(, a down-on-his-luck interior designer in Greenwich Village, New York, has to move back upstate to help his parents (Henry Goodman and Imelda Staunton) run their dilapidated Catskills motel, the El Monaco. The bank is about to foreclose; his father wants to burn the place down, but hasn’t paid the insurance; and Elliot is still figuring how to come out to his parents. When Elliot hears that a neighbouring town has pulled the permit on a hippie music festival, he calls the producers, thinking he could drum up some much needed business for the motel. Three weeks later, half a million people are on their way to his neighbour's farm in White Lake, NY, and Elliot finds himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life, and popular culture, forever.

Cast & Characters: Demetri Martin (Elliot Tiber), Dan Fogler (Devon), Imelda Staunton (Sonia Teichberg), Emile Hirsch (Billy), Eugene Levy (Max Yasgur), Jonathan Groff (Michael Lang), Henry Goodman (Jake Teichberg), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Dan), Adam Le Fevre (Dave), Kevin Chamberlain (Jackson Spiers), Boris McGiver (Doug), Paul Dano (VW Guy), Kelli Garner (VW Girl), Clark Middleton (Frank), Christina Kirk (Carol), Sondra James (Margaret), Kevin Sussman (Stan), Spadaque Volcimus (Hippie Guy), Pippa Pearthree (Miriam), Andy Prosky (Bob), Gabriel Sunday (Steven), Jeremy Shamos (Steve Cohen), Liev Schreiber (Vilma), Malachy Cleary (Wes Pomeroy), Katherine Waterston (Penny), Patrick Cupo (Charlie), Mamie Gummer (Tisha), Skylar Astin (John Roberts), Bette Henritze (Annie), Stephen Kunken (Mel)
View the gallery for more pictures Mamie's character, Tish, is based on real-life Ticia "Bernuth" Agri. It was 40 years ago that Agri felt a "wave of energy" flow through her when she heard from a friend that a New York City concert producer was looking for an assistant to help him put on a show slated for a rural upstate field. Agri said the cultural phenomenon known as "Woodstock" seems like it happened a lifetime ago, but she can distinctly recall standing on a stage, as a production assistant, looking out at a "tsunami of humanity" as Jimi Hendrix began playing in August of 1969. Agri worked as a production assistant for Michael Lang, who is credited with being the executive producer of a Woodstock show that drew upward of 500,000 people to take in more than 30 of the biggest music acts of the late 1960s.
The festival - which ran Aug. 15-18 - took place on a 630-acre farm owned by Bethel, N.Y., dairy farmer Max Yasgur. The event is highlighted in history by its overwhelming and unanticipated attendance, torrential downpours, unabashed drug use, sexual experiences and peaceful opposition to the Vietnam War. She said Lang seemed to be entertained when she interviewed with him and told him numerous stories about her recent trip. "I think he figured at least he wouldn't be bored with me as an assistant," Agri said. As the 40th anniversary of Woodstock approaches, talk has heightened about organizing a festival paying tribute to the original event, but Agri doubts there will be anything like Woodstock ever again. She said the last two Woodstock events were promoted by huge corporate sponsors and failed to capture the essence of an original festival, which ended up being a free concert for the many who showed up to the fields of Yasgur's farm. "They care more about the show than the money," Agri said. It's especially aggravating to see Mamie Gummer wasted in a barely-there role that's spent hiding under a giant floppy hat.

A wonderfully chilled-out Mamie Gummer.

Fine actors, including Eugene Levy, Jonathan Groff and Mamie Gummer, shine despite their underwritten roles. Official Website courtesy Focus Features
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