In the romantic comedy Peace, Love and Misunderstanding, new to DVD and Blu-ray this week, Catherine Keener plays Diane, a stressed out Manhattan attorney who retreats to her hippie mom’s house in Woodstock when her husband asks for a divorce.
Diane brings the kids as well, college student Zoe (Elizabeth Olsen) and nerdy teenager Jake (Nat Wolff). Diane’s mom, Grace, is played by Jane Fonda, who has a good time sending up her image as queen of the aging hippie baby boomers.
Grace, it seems, is something of a legend in Woodstock — Bob Dylan had a thing for her — and has sold pot to and/or slept with pretty much everyone in town. It soon becomes apparent that Diane and Grace have some issues. Diane is wound awfully tight, and seems to resent her mom for an unstructured and chaotic childhood.
As Diane and Grace mend fences, the kids get acquainted with grandma and explore the town of Woodstock, which is depicted as a 1960s flower power mecca, frozen in time. Zoe finds love with the local butcher (Chace Crawford) and geeky Jake hooks up with the coffee shop girl Tara (Marissa O’Donnell).
Peace, Love and Misunderstanding isn’t a great movie. It’s predictable and mushy, and the hippie stuff is riddled with cliches. But it’s also good-hearted and funny. Thanks to the ace ensemble cast — which also includes Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Rosanna Arquette and Kyle MaLachlan — the movie gets maximum mileage out of its lightweight script.
Fonda gives a nice comic performance as an earnest, slightly ditzy ’60s casualty, still telling stories about that one amazing Dead show. Morgan is hunky and likeable as a local carpenter who tries to coax Diane out of her shell. And Elizabeth Olsen brings a bright energy and humor to her scenes.