Cocksucker Blues

While CS Blues, Robert Frank's justifiably infamous documentary about the Rolling Stones' 1972 American tour, has never received a proper release, either theatrically or on video (Frank does screen the film periodically at museums and festivals under an agreement he reached with the Stones), a few brave and nameless souls have circulated bootleg versions of the film on VHS (and later on DVD), and the film's under-the-counter availability seems to suit it quite well -- this is one movie that just feels as if it ought to be treated as contraband. If CS Blues doesn't quite live up to its highly scabrous reputation, anyone looking for top-shelf rock-star decadence early-'70s style will certainly find what they seek. Guzzling booze, snorting coke, shooting smack, sharing needles, trashing hotel rooms, partying with celebrities, frolicking with naked groupies, hosting orgies, and occasionally stopping for sandwiches, CS Blues confirms every dark fear your parents ever had about how long-haired rock musicians spend their spare time. (It is worth mentioning, however, that the nastiest behavior belongs to the roadies; Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had the good sense to avoid being photographed administering opiates or doing the nasty, but they do stand by and offer encouragement as their crew ravishes two marginally willing women aboard their private jet.) However, there's precious little joy to be seen in the Stones' ongoing parade of hedonism; much of the time, the band's mood doesn't seem jaded so much as simply bored, and for every moment in which Mick and Keith snort coke or toss televisions out the window, there's another in which the guys struggle to order fruit from room service, ponder rough mixes of their next album after a show, or simply sit around waiting to go on-stage. In CS Blues, life for the Rolling Stones either goes in first gear or fifth, and what makes it one of the truest films about life for a band on the road isn't the sex and drugs, but the pervasive ennui which seems to fully break only when they're playing on-stage (and the concert sequences do capture the band at a time when they still had some business calling themselves the world's greatest rock & roll band). It's almost enough to make you glad that band you played with in college never got past playing the corner bar on Monday nights. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide