Let's Spend the Night Together (1982)

Director Hal Ashby has achieved something quite impressive here: he's made Mick Jagger seem boring.

The first third or so of this film is the Rolling Stones playing in the middle of the day in a stadium somewhere. Their stage presence has all the excitement of a contractual obligation. There's nothing visual about the experience. Just four stick figures playing instruments and Mick walking around them. It isn't helped by the apparent decision to shoot mostly in long shot, to show five bored musicians on a huge stage that dwarfs them.

My mind wandered. I've seen three stadium shows in my life, in three different cities. Where any of them this boring. I saw the Jacksons in Cleveland in 1984. I thought the show seemed canned, preprogrammed. But there was a sense of spetacle. Not with the Stones movie.

When I saw Paul McCartney in the mid 90s in Cincinnati, he certainly wanted to be there. There was a sense of excitement. And when I saw U2 in Columbus, it was the PopMart tour. Definitely more of a visual experience.

Part of the problem is the Stones. I've seen two concert movies of them made since this. At the Max was much more visual. I came out of that movie excited. Were the Stones more invigorated 10 years later? I think so. But I also think Julian Temple made more of an effort to be visual, not just aural.

Then there was Shine A Light. With Scorsese directing. He used more close-ups. But there is a pure joy in performing in Shine A Light that is flat out missing in Let's Spend the Night Together.

And I don't think this is just because I saw both those films in IMAX and I saw Let's Spend the Night Together on a 36 inch television.

There are some bad decisions here. When the film switches to an indoor arena, the entirety of Going to a Go-Go is used to show the stage being put together in fast forward speed. Uh-huh. I don't really know why archival footage was shown during Time Is On My Side, but it added nothing. And the decision for a long shot in the indoor stadium to shoot through the light grid. I know its an angle we never see, but the band looks like ants in the shot, when you can see them.

The ending sums up the experience all too well. As the credits roll, shots of fireworks -- where were they during the performances -- are shown to the sound of Jimi Hendrix playing the Star-Spangled Banner. Great. To try and salvage the energy of the movie, the filmmakers decide to use a 10 year old taped performance than additional music from the concerts.

Grade: D-