Clevercell Very disappointing...

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Brian Woods If you're a Rolling Stones fan, you'll surely love "Shine a Light" even more than I did. It's pretty much a Stones concert show with interviews in the middle but it's as good as a concert movie can be. Let's face it, even an average performance by the Stones isn't boring. With all the genius that the director Scorsese brings, it was pretty good, not monumental, but really defines the Rolling Stones. Although "Shine a Light" was filmed decades after the band's peak, it proves that these epic rock 'n' roll bad guys, despite their age, still know how it's done. This was my only chance to afford front row tickets to a Stones concert and so watching this in the theater was pretty damn cool and downright fun.

Roland E. Zwick If the astonishing longevity of The Rolling Stones has taught us anything, it's that rock'n'roll is no longer just a young man's game. In fact, after nearly a half a century of rocking out, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood - all now in their 60s - offer proof positive that youth is indeed just a state of mind.More than twenty years after his seminal rock film "The Last Waltz," director Martin Scorsese turns his cameras on the Stones, recording a concert they performed at the Beacon Theatre in 2006 (as part of their "A Bigger Bang Tour") to benefit The Clinton Foundation (Bill and Hillary are both present at the event and are seen mingling with the fellows in the opening moments of the film). I'd say that at least 70 percent of the film's running time is devoted to the concert itself, with the rest made up of backstage stuff (mainly early on) and footage from interviews the band members gave throughout their career when reporters were (ironically, as it turns out) always predicting the band's demise within a few years - snippets obviously designed to contrast the boys' younger selves with what they look like today. The most humorously prescient moment comes when Dick Cavett asks Jagger, in 1972, if he can envision himself still doing this when he's 60. (Jagger's answer, by the way, is yes).With camera-work that is fluid without calling undue attention to itself, "Shine a Light" is essentially a straight-forward concert film, featuring some of the group's most instantly recognizable standards ("Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Shattered," "Start Me Up," "As Tears Go By," "Brown Sugar," "Satisfaction," etc.) as well as songs that are less well known - a feast for die-hard fans of the band, to be sure, though probably less gratifying for those who aren't. For despite the presence of Scorsese in the director's chair, "Shine a Light" is not really all that remarkable as a piece of film-making, but the sight of a bunch of astoundingly agile sexagenarians strutting their stuff on stage as if they were still in their twenties does give hope and encouragement to the rest of us fighting against our own fast-approaching golden years. It's obvious that these boys - clearly the true survivors of the rock era - are one day going to be taken off the stage feet first, going out doing what they love best. And, if nothing else, the film gets these rock'n'roll legends on the record for future generations to enjoy.

Nog I don't know. It seemed like this should be a great way to summarize the Stones' career: the Scorcese treatment. But I was distinctly underwhelmed. There was the over-representation of mediocre Stones songs (they do have some great material that wouldn't just be a greatest hits set). There was Mick, who ardently believes that more is more. But then he didn't give more (where it counts) on a throw-away vocal on "As Tears Go By." Then there was Marty, who distrusts the viewer not to get bored by not hazarding a single lingering shot. Or to cut away from Mick when Chuck Leavell was delivering a very nice piano solo. My wife noted that the Stones seemed better when Mick stepped off the stage. His "rooster on acid" shtick was nearly nonstop on the faster numbers, and grew boring very, very quickly. I've seen Peter Gabriel and Bono do much, much better as entertainers. But then, I never drank the Kool-Aid.From a film-making point of view, I don't get the value of the Clintons in there, nor of the footage with Marty. And the crowd looked like a group of friends of the band's and Marty's, with a smattering of trust fund kids and investment bankers for good measure. Check out "Gimme Shelter" instead; there's some pretty gritty stuff in there, and it's not all pretty, but at least it's real.

classicsoncall Early in the picture, there's the greatest exchange between director Martin Scorsese and one of his engineers. Talking about the precautions needed with the stage lighting and how hot it might get:Scorsese - "You mean like flames?" Engineer - "He (referring to Mick Jagger) might catch on fire". Scorsese - "We can't do that". I don't know what I got a bigger kick out of, that conversation, or the sight of Bill Clinton getting a hug from Keith Richards. You have to admit, that was pretty bizarre. Now don't take this the wrong way, I've been a Rolling Stones fan right from the get go, but seeing them up close and personal the way they appeared in this concert film, is about the closest you'll ever get to seeing a band of corpses performing live. Sort of on the order of the Crypt Keeper in 'Tales From The Crypt'. Except for Charlie Watts maybe, he looks pretty much like a regular old man. And again, I'm not making fun, just taking liberty considering the fact that I'm not much younger than any of the Stones.But man, that Jagger has energy to spare, and he can pound it out with the best of them. Kind of makes you want to get up out of a comfortable sofa and kick out the jams along with the boys. Every rock number that Mick belts out is raw energy, and when you figure that in forty plus years of performing they must have played "Satisfaction" a few thousand times, it's a blast to hear it like it was fresh and new. I particularly liked the way they mixed their set with a take on a Motown favorite, "Just My Imagination", along with a great bluesy presentation of "Champagne and Reefer" accompanied by the legendary Buddy Guy. It was also cool to hear Jagger reach way back to the early days for a stab at an acoustic version of "As Tears Go By".I was taken aback somewhat the first time an interview clip from the Sixties popped into the picture; hard to imagine that the Stones were ever that impossibly young. Responding to a question about the band's prospects after their first two years of touring, I think you'd have to score Mick's answer as the understatement of the rock era - "I think we're pretty well set up for at least another year". And what keeps Keith Richards going? - "My luck hasn't run out yet". I've never seen The Stones live in concert, but "Shine A Light" is a pretty reasonable substitute. There's no shortage of old favorites and long time fans will know and appreciate every tune. Kind of makes you wish that each performance will set them up for at least another year.