Perhaps to Wick’s chagrin, I need to admit I’m not a huge Stones fan – but this is one movie I just had to see, and now I regret not seeing it on the big screen. Scorcese puts together a great aggregation of songs performed by the fab-4 at the Beacon in NYC. I loved the way it started out focusing on the interplay between Scorcese and the Stones. Starting a biographical film on the present and the background of the film itself was a unique and enjoyable twist. How about the review of “well known”, “medium known”, “unknown”, and “Scorcese Suggestions” for the set list review an hour before the show. Keeping Scorcese in the dark? classic. Scorcese didn’t flash back until well in to the film when they interviewed Mick, who thought so many years ago that maybe they were “set up for another year.” Yeah right Mick!. Flashbacks continued afterwards with other interesting exposures which all stuck to a theme of being uniquely revealing of their sarcastic playfulness, and Mick’s original naivite was countered by his infinite wisdom when asked by Dick Cavett if they would continue when they were 60 (“Oh yeah” replied Mick). Another nice touch was the infusion of guest stars, starting with the Clintons, Jack White, and Christina Aguilera, and Buddy Guy. But the best pairing – hands down – was with Buddy dong “Champagne and Reefer”… the others paled next to the stones, especially Christina, who seemed to crack under the pressure. Wick might ask what my favorite song was… I just can’t pick, but I can say that the Buddy rendition of “Champagne,” “Some Girls”, and “Sympathy for the Devil” were way up there :-) Oh, and how in the heck does Keith keep going? It defies all reason…
Acting? What acting? Nothing but the real thing here!
I can’t say that the film struck me as uniquely Scorcese, but it was nontheless top notch.
No chagrin Brian. Happy to see that the Stones have created yet one more fan.