Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "The kinetic camerawork nails every riff'n'wriggle....An impeccably shot snapshot of a band taking their calling to its limit..." 05/01/2008 p.40USA Today
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "The director cannily sprinkles concert footage with archival clips charting the rock veterans' rise and the unflappable wit and resolve with which they managed it." 04/04/2008 Los Angeles Times
"What SHINE A LIGHT, Martin Scorsese's concert documentary does beautifully is illuminate the way things are now with the self-described world's greatest rock'n'roll band." 04/04/2008 New York Times
"As you scrutinize the aging bodies of the Rolling Stones in Martin Scorsese's rip-roaring concert documentary SHINE A LIGHT, there is ample evidence that rock 'n' roll may hold the secret of eternal vitality, if not beauty." 04/04/2008 Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "This you-are-there spellbinder is a master director shining his light on the best rock band on the planet." 04/17/2008 66 Entertainment Weekly
"Scorsese's camera work takes its cues from Mick's moves: It's nervous yet centered, leaping across the stage to gape at the singer' awesome propulsion." 04/11/2008 p.56 Uncut
5 stars out of 5 -- "SHINE A LIGHT brilliantly captures the Stones in all their ecstatic rapture, bacchic and sublime..." 05/01/2008 p.120 Empire
4 stars out of 5 -- "It is Scorsese's tribute to the music that shaped his movies, and we see the Stones through his eyes. To him they are immediate; they are dynamic; they are the best rock 'n' roll band in the world." 05/01/2008 p.57 Sight and Sound
"[T]hey remain a vital live force....The camera prowls around the stage, flitting between the various band members, making sense of the barrage of sounds as they tumble out from the speakers." 05/01/2008 p.82 Ultimate DVD
3 stars out of 5 -- "Incredibly, Jagger seems more energetic and animated now than he did last century, and arguably in better voice..." 05/01/2008 p.65 Premiere
3 stars out of 4 -- "[I]t's a celebration of durability and stamina...remarkably engaging and fleet..." 04/04/2008 Reel.com 6 of 10
Gimme Shelter this is not. The disillusions and stabbings of the 1969 concert have been replaced by the Clinton Foundation's benefit for the Natural Resource Defense Council and snapping camera phones. But Shine a Light is helmed by Martin Scorsese--the man behind Goodfellas and Raging Bull--shouldn't it push the boundaries set by Maysles brothers nearly 40 years ago? It should, but Scorsese has always had a cinematic hard-on for the Rolling Stones, and the result is a personal, biased love letter to the Stones signed with love by Marty...Sentimentality and nostalgia might fill the gaps for aging Stones fans, but for the rest of us, it's a missed opportunity for a reflection on the times and the unstoppable Stones. Gimme Shelter defined a change in a generation, but Shine a Light inadvertently defines our time of political correctness and accessibility through censorship. Perhaps the only insight we have into the post-2000 Rolling Stones is when Scorsese's camera swings into the drum set and drummer Charlie Watts unleashes a tired sigh not more than three songs into the set. It's the only moment of weakness, of age, of reality. The rest is rock and roll that's sanitized for the whole family. - Jason Morgan
Los Angeles Times 9 of 10
What "Shine a Light," Martin Scorsese's concert documentary, does beautifully is illuminate the way things are now with the self-described world's greatest rock 'n' roll band. We see that benefit show and a Clinton birthday concert, filmed over two nights in 2006 at New York's Beacon Theatre, and by the time it's all over, we are thoroughly entertained. But getting to that point turns out to have been a tougher slog than might be expected...If the overall age of the group is a problem, "Shine a Light" has the resources to combat and overcome it, key among them being the amount of filmmaking craft and skill director Scorsese and his team bring to the proceedings...The heart of "Shine a Light," though, is the marvelous performance footage the 18 cameramen, led by director of photography Robert Richardson and including such major talents as Robert Elswit, John Toll, Albert Maysles, Stuart Dryburgh, Andrew Lesnie, Emmanuel Lubezki, Declan Quinn and Ellen Kuras, have managed to capture...The Stones have been in any number of memorable films, including 1970's "Gimme Shelter" and Robert Frank's documentary with the unprintable name, but this outing is special, both because of where it arrives and the obstacles it faced along the way. "Shine a Light" may not be the last Rolling Stones movie, but it's likely to be the last one with a touch of the poet about it. - Kenneth Turan
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