Peace, Love & Misunderstanding (2011)

I love this movie so much

Purely Joyful Movie!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The movie reminded me of a cartoon about a well-dressed Yuppie walking from his disappointed hippie parents' home. Indeed, that is actually the premise of the movie, about a woman lawyer finding her husband wanting to divorce her, so she takes her teenage children for the weekend to Woodstock, New York to see her mother, a hippie whom she hasn't seen in 20 years. The reunion is less awkward than expected, but there are still unresolved issues between mother and daughter, and the kids include a son who uses a video camera to fulfill his dream of being a movie maker a la Warner Herzog, as well as a stuck-up intellectual vegetarian daughter.Once you see the hippie culture still alive in Woodstock, the rest of the movie is basically a dysfunctional family story, how mother, grandmother, and the teenage kids still conflict, and how they all deal with the quirky locals of Woodstock, not all of whom are hippies. The movie philosophizes but has no deep meaning or surprises, but is still mildly entertaining.

This is a charming movie and could have been much better. Jane Fonda, of course, made it fabulous, both from an acting standpoint and just her very presence. She is amazing. Jeffery Dean Morgan stole every scene he was in, a really intelligent, kind actor. Catherine Keener is so perfectly cast, understated and vulnerable. Their relationship should have gotten more screen time and have been much more developed. Marissa O'Donnell and Nat Wolff are both adorable here and their relationship together is very believable. I did not like the role of Elizabeth Olsen. She is an interesting actress, but her dialogue and life experience seemed too mature for her and her relationship with the butcher felt beyond them. Their scenes together did not work and I found myself fast-forwarding through them the second time I watched it.

Free-spirited Moms and daughters story. I enjoyed the simple message of "each to his own". The Woodstock references and various musicians together with Jane Fonda (who lived it) are fun. The different love stories are contemporary and delightfully portrayed. This is no big movie with an incredible plot, it is just life! If you throw out any cynicism you hold you will enjoy it. Jane Fonda is simply beautiful, and I personally enjoyed the gorgeous 2 main male characters, just because. The guidelines for reviews says don't pad the review with junk words - I am not sure what that means if I read what I have written so far. I only want to say, it is a well presented movie with some delightful actors and a believable story-line.

If you lack motivation or simply are looking for relaxation, you'll like Peace, Love & Misunderstanding. There is nothing groundbreaking in it, nevertheless, the cast delivers an excellent performance. It goes to the extent that even the actors that might annoy you don't bother you throughout the movie.There is a lot of stereotyping here, but i didn't expect anything else from a romantic comedy involving hippies in Woodstock in the year 2011. Jane Fonda looks like a grandma every teenager would love to have, adorable despite all the escapades. She was the only reason i saw Peace, Love & Misunderstanding and i liked the way Barbarella had aged...