Shine a Light (PG-13)
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Shine a Light, big-shot director Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones concert film, is not only a vanity project for everyone involved, it’s a total tongue bath. The backstory: Scorsese has used Stones anthems in countless movies (Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino, The Departed), so the World’s Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Band asked the Very Excellent Film Director if he’d like to film the Highest-Grossing Tour of All Time. He happily obliged, the Stones signed on as producers, and all parties settled on documenting the second of two 2006 Stones-headlined charity benefits celebrating Bill Clinton’s 60th birthday. But Shine a Light’s only point seems to be: You try this at 60. The ol’ age-defiance angle is a reliable trump card for bar-stool bickering about Super Bowl 40’s halftime show, but one would hope that, after The Last Waltz and No Direction Home, Scorsese might venture beyond making a glossy episode of Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Nope, and we’re not supposed to question it: Like the Stones, Marty’s earned the right to coast, especially in his senior years.
Review by Camille Dodero
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