Shine a Light | DVD Review

Martin Scorsese’s obsession with music rears its ugly geriatric head in the Rolling Stones-featured documentary concert film ‘Shine a Light’. The Rolling Stones give a 2-night performance at New York’s Beacon Theatre, and who better to take us through this unique experience than Martin Scorsese… well, anyone really, even Jonathan Demme to be honest. I’ll start off right off the bat and say that I can’t help but feel this *doc-cert (*documentary-concert, patent pending) would have been better at the pinnacle of The Stones’ fame and at the height of Scorsese’s inexperience. The magic and wonderment that Scorsese brought us with The Last Waltz ends up being obstructed like that large guy in front of you at a concert who keeps moving around after you finally found a spot to see the stage between his gigantic head and the jumping fan next to him.

Right away Scorsese gives us a glimpse into the making-of while him and Mick Jagger fail to communicate properly regarding pretty much every aspect of the show. Like anyone who’s seen the trailer, Scorsese absolutely wants a camera that swoops in & out and up & down, whereas Mick does not because it’s “annoying and distracting” (he’s so old) but hey, who cares? We’re creating fake backstage tension between the director and the star! DRA-MA!!! Although at times misplaced, the old footage adds a breath of fresh air to an otherwise straightforward fair, which begs the question: did Scorsese not have confidence that his footage was good enough to sustain interest that he had to sneak in some black & white nostalgia? Apparently so. Unfortunately the stock footage was the most interesting part, and now I feel like watching a real documentary on The Stones.

As for the band’s performances, I try to not let it bother me but Mick Jagger really makes me uncomfortable. I preferred his gyrating moves back when he was still a bright-eyed youngin’ who made me sexually confused about myself. Buddy Guy adds a touch of class which Mick quickly steals away by swallowing a harmonica. Or maybe it was Keith Richards’ disgusting smoke-addled cancer lips coming up to Buddy during a solo. Oh, and apparently when The Eagles’ Glenn Frey is sick of staring at Don Henley’s ugly mug he moonlights as a trumpet player for the Stones under the alias Kent Smith. Good thing there are visuals because this soundtrack probably makes for a terrible live album. Jumpin’ Jack Flash is a what-what-what? I know it’s supposed to be “Gas! Gas! Gas!” but either Mick is having a mid-song stroke or he gave up on singing in English entirely.

Let’s compare ‘Shine A Light’ to ‘The Last Waltz’. “Unfair!” you say? You bet it is:

As a venue, New York’s Beacon Theatre is quite impressive, and while I’m sure no one was there for yams and cranberry sauce it does hold a candle up to the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco where The Band played.

-Guest-stars galore!: Buddy Guy! Jack White! Bill Clinton! And… Christina Aguilera??? Really? I admit she has a voice that could tear the roof off of the Metropolitan Opera House, but I did not need to see Mick switch to dirty perverted uncle mode and fandango against her nubile young body that way. Understandably The Band had more guest-stars seeing as it was a farewell concert, but I don’t remember seeing Richard Manuel dry-humping Mavis Staples during the show, although who knows what happened backstage. 10 to 1 says Ronnie Wood misses the good old days where it was universally embarrassing to have Neil Diamond appear at your farewell concert.
-Scorsese does have some scenes that are reminiscent of Last Waltz; he manages to catch some amazing expressions on these guys’ faces, especially from Buddy Guy and drummer Charlie Watts. Oh, and that face that Scorsese pulls when the Stones leave the building… did he just crap himself? Worth sitting through just for that scene.

-For The Last Waltz Scorsese didn’t need to choose the best performance out of 2 nights to make a mediocre compilation; The Band got shit done right with one take! (if you don’t count Neil Young’s coke snot, Eric Clapton’s malfunctioning guitar strap and Robbie Robertson’s faulty microphone… but we got to witness that stuff firsthand

Since the interview footage during this film is mostly stock, all Martin Scorsese did was film a plain ol’ concert. Not as uninformative as Jonathan Demme’s ‘Neil Young: Heart of Gold’ mind you, but unless Marty traveled back in time to shoot al those interviews during the band’s golden years, this doesn’t stand up to the interesting road stories from The Band.


DOCUMENTARY FEATURETTE
Some more stock footage spliced in with some modern-day backstage antics. A young Mick gets pissed off at a reporter (and rightly so), Keith Richards is #1 (on a death list) and we witness a truly funny moment between Martin Scorsese, Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, now who knew Keith was such a smart-ass? He just scored bonus points in my book for his smart-aleckyness. Even motherfucking Buddy Guy’s motherfucking tales about motherfucking Muddy Waters et al. are pretty motherfucking funny. A few blues-y band practices were probably the musical highlights of the concert.

BONUS SONGS: Paint It Black, Little T and A, I’m Free, Undercover of the Night“Paint It, Black” was good. Skip the others which are not even worth mentioning.

Like most classic rock bands who are still going strong, The Stones should have quit gracefully a long time ago. They’re not yet an imitation of their former selves but have become somewhat blasé in their performances leaving the audience feeling nothing but cheated. In any case guys, if you don’t retire soon at least please leave “Just My Imagination” a distant memory on “Some Girls” like it should be. I had to fast-forward through all 8+ minutes of the song because The Temptations’ Eddie Kendricks was spinning around in his grave so fast I could feel the earth move. Overall not impressed, but I guess I had to be there. Oh wait, not only was I not there for The Last Waltz but I was a year shy of even being alive, and I can easily watch that without wanting to take a nap. Just like a high-end strip club, “Shine A Light” looks pretty, but at the end of it all makes you feel disparagingly empty.

Movie rating – 2.5

Disc Rating – 2.5