Shine a Light 2008

Stephen Holden, New York Times: As the director of the documentary Shine a Light, Martin Scorsese is a besotted rock 'n' roll fan who wholeheartedly embraces its mythology. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: [Scorsese] comes at the Stones from every imaginable angle. He voodoos the footage into a fluid whole. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Aside from threading in a few black-and-white clips of the band being interviewed in the mid-60s, Scorsese doesn't have much to say about the Stones, and their unfeeling professionalism onstage says quite enough already. Read more

Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal: Some may argue that Shine a Light could have used more such flavoring. Stones' fans won't be among them. Read more

Patrick MacDonald, Seattle Times: Close-ups detail the etched faces of the Stones, but they've never seemed more ageless. Their music and spirit are still brash and youthful. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: A buoyant, light-hearted encore of a movie, paying tribute to the Stones as indefatigable elder statesmen who still go out every night and put on a great show. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Although the film is expertly made it offers almost nothing new for fans of the Stones, or of Scorsese. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: As Jagger is the ringmaster in front of the cameras, Scorsese is the maestro behind them, assembling a crew under Robert Richardson that reads like a Who's Who of award-winning cinematographers. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: The music's insistent richness builds and builds, its sound becoming so deep and persuasive that qualms about age fade and the rhythms carry us away. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Shine a Light is akin to paying for a very good seat at a Stones concert, and while some of us couldn't do that for real, even if we saved up, Scorsese's fond film...is a stroll down memory lane, conducted by four men who know the way, and know how Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The disappointment is that, unlike The Last Waltz, which got inside the skins of The Band and was clearly a deeply personal work, Shine A Light is essentially just an expertly made concert film. But what a concert! Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: There's more than a bit of satisfaction to be had in Shine a Light, which starts with a clever tussle of the dynamic wills of Jagger and Scorsese. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: This is how great rock and roll was meant to be filmed: By great filmmakers. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: What it captures is a band that has figured out the best way to endure -- by becoming eternal. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: After the 14th song, casual fans feel guilty that their energy is flagging while then-63 Mick's still huffing on Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: It's a gas. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The singer's energy remains awe-inspiring: He flails his sinewy limbs around the stage like a man possessed, and there isn't a single song in the show that he doesn't invest himself in whole. Read more

Glenn Gamboa, Newsday: Shine a Light, like so much of the Stones' music it captures, may not be epic, but it certainly shows us a good time. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: This movie is about giving us a privileged glimpse of the Stones in action. It's a record of an astonishing musical chemistry that has been evolving, with no signs of calcification, for nearly five decades. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: At times, the cutting shifts from the hasty to the impatient to the borderline epileptic, and, while never doubting Scorsese's ardor for the Stones, I got the distinct impression of a style in search of a subject. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Amazingly, Jagger turns 65 in July. And although his face is carved with lines, his stage act hasn't changed much since the band played Madison Square Garden nearly 40 years ago. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Regardless of age, they can still rip this joint. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The movie easily beats paying $250 to experience the Bones in person; you can see everything without having to stand up, and the sound at a multiplex is far better than any arena. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Martin Scorsese's Shine a Light, featuring the Rolling Stones onstage with their talented friends, rattled my old bones to nirvana and beyond as I searched for superlatives adequate to describe the rapturous vibes let loose by the performers. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Scorsese captures the Stones at their ancient, un-ironic best, bluesy showmen who leave it all on the stage every night, never for a moment letting on that they're playing, for the 10,000th time, 40-year-old hits. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Despite Scorsese's efforts to pump up some drama -- the director, with his signature glasses and Groucho brows, gets huffy about not receiving a set list -- drama is sorely lacking. This is just a concert film. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Shine a Light combines his foreknowledge with the versatility of great cinematographers so that it essentially seems to have a camera in the right place at the right time for every element of the performance. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: The filmmaking tries to generate excitement; it doesn't capture it. Read more

Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle: He brings all his skills as a filmmaker to the film, but Scorsese did not achieve the monumental dimensions of his movie from cinematic savoir faire. Shine a Light is huge because the Stones are giants. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Martin Scorsese meets the Rolling Stones in Shine a Light. The synergy is so brilliant, it's nearly blinding. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: What he has created, inadvertently, is an invaluable documentation of semi-fossilized Stones -- musicologists may like it, sociologists should love it and, some distant day, anthropologists will treasure it. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's showbiz, after all. And the band still rocks like none other, true to their creed that if their adored blues masters can play into their dotage, then so can they. Read more

Hank Sartin, Time Out: Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: Read more

Elysa Gardner, USA Today: The genius of Scorsese's film, which is being shown in IMAX in 93 theaters, is that it reveals the Stones' mortality while celebrating all that makes them more than mere mortals. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Takes full advantage of heavy camera coverage and top-notch sound to create an invigorating musical trip down memory lane, as well as to provoke gentle musings on the wages of aging and the passage of time. Read more

Camille Dodero, Village Voice: Like the Stones, Marty's earned the right to coast, especially in his senior years. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: For the most part, Scorsese (as he did in The Last Waltz, his brilliant documentary about the Band) largely lets the Stones be the Stones. Read more