Always Woodstock

Reading the other reviews for this, I have to smile ruefully. Saying a film has absolutely zero merit is completely understandable - expected - with soulless box office cash cows. I mean, it isn't really - considering people have toiled tirelessly and put in insane hours to create it, and at least one person in the cast is probably insanely invested in it and will cry their little heart out when they read the reviews - but it's understandable. Because it's just a product.

When it comes to little hopeful offerings like this one - an idea some budding director has probably had for years, worked so hard to get made, and probably never expected it to - it's not only a little cruel but stupid.

Because you can tell the director of this little film, Rita Merson, cared a lot about making it. "I watched 'Pretty Woman' and it was all over," says Merson. "I became a connoisseur of the romcom."

She made this with a recently broken heart. That went into the making of this film. As cliché as it is, getting your heart broken is still one of the most intense, multi-layered and transformative experiences of grief and longing in existence. So, no. I have a heart, and that automatically makes this film something to me.

That doesn't mean it's a very good film. It doesn't pretend to be. It's warm, strange, neurotic and often desperate, but it doesn't try to make any great Statement about love and music and self-discovery. It does what you want a little romcom to do - tell a story and make you laugh and feel things. And it does that just fine.

I was sometimes frustrated watching it. It was light. Sometimes frothy. The subject matter, under the hand of a more indie director who takes themselves a little too seriously, could have given something a little more raw and meaningful.

But this was sweet. The lead actress was wonderful to watch, very different. Her neuroticism, meant to make you fall a bit in love with her, worked. She wasn't too adorable. I liked her, and her voice, if it's hers, and forgave her for seeming to know absolutely nothing about music or authenticity.

Sometimes the dialogue was hilarious. Never inspired, never Nora Ephron, but original and laugh-out-loud. Almost every encounter with the doctor, who wasn't bad himself.

I'm just saying. It had a heart. It made me feel things. It was fun. It was warm and sparky. It cheered me up. And her voice is very good.

So thanks, Rita Merson.

Wow, negative reviews galore. For me, movies are escapism and this one fits nicely into that category. It had great music, which I love, and a likable cast. The story is relatable in certain areas, enough get your attention but distant enough that you're not spending the next few hours dragging up ghosts of past relationships and poking at them like a sore tooth for days on end. I enjoyed it for what it was. I think most people who enjoy romcoms will. Doesn't have the high cheese factor of a Halmark romance nor the depth of a real tear jerker... it's just a safe, happy, enjoyable ,"girl learns lessons and maybe finds love, while reaching for who she wants to be" kind of movie.

I randomly watched this movie on T.V tonight. It was truly painful to watch. Between the horrible, unrealistic dialogue to the awful acting and character development - there is NO point in recommending this movie to anyone. The music was awful. The main character was awful. It is at the absolute bottom tier of terrible movies that exist. Please don't waste your time watching it.

I have to agree with freedjo, above, who I could copy word for word. My feelings are exactly those of that reviewer. This is the worst thing I've seen in quite some time. I think freedjo is absolutely right when she mentions Katie Segal being on redeeming feature but she is in this turkey far too briefly. One has to wonder how this could even be made. Didn't anyone notice during production that the film wasn't coming together and was a complete and utter disaster? How could they miss that? The audience was beat over the head with the reality the producers refused to face. Terrible acting, poor writing, and abominable direction sink this thing after 5 minutes pass. Skip this one.

Catherine Brown (Allison Miller) is stuck in her life which has her silently screaming. She has long abandoned her dreams of singing. She lost her parents early in life. Her boyfriend Garret (Jason Ritter) is a self-obsessed actor. She hates her job as a musician rep and then is forced to wrangle hard-partying Jody Sinclair (Brittany Snow). When Jody accuses her of assault, she gets fired. She comes home early to find Garret cheating on her. She's sleeping on her friend Ryan's couch. She decides to go upstate to live in her childhood home in rural Woodstock. Emily (Rumer Willis) is the tough local bartender and Noah Bernstein (James Wolk) is the cute doctor. On the drunken first night at the bar, she proclaims her love to Noah. Coffee shop owner Lee Ann (Katey Sagal) nurtures her music dreams.

Miller and Wolk are a perfectly cute rom-com couple. They are both photogenic and sweet-natured although they are more like sidekick material. I want to like this very much for them. This is director Rita Merson's debut. The newcomer doesn't have all the skills to make this work. The timing is not there. The jokes are lacking. I'm surprised at the number of solid actors in the cast. Even the minor roles have familiar names. It doesn't make this good and may actually hinder the small town feel needed for Woodstock. It feels like Hollywood trying to pretend to be small town. The same can be said of the record company. It's some kind of Hollywood facsimile of a record company from the recent past. A lot of this movie falls flat despite my desire to root for the couple. Even at its best, this is a formulaic rom-com. It's not until Forever Sex when I finally get my first laugh. I still don't understand Emily's motive. This tries to be a fun quirky rom-com. It tries.