CSNY Déjà Vu (2008)

68% of critics liked it
(41 reviews)
69% of users liked it
(456 ratings)

Directed by Bernard Shakey, a long-time alias for Neil Young, CSNY Déjà Vu documents the beloved quartet's 2006 Freedom of Speech tour. The film includes a wealth of information about the Iraq War, and the film's anti-war stance gets as much attention as the group's musical performances. ~ Perry… More Directed by Bernard Shakey, a long-time alias for Neil Young, CSNY Déjà Vu documents the beloved quartet's 2006 Freedom of Speech tour. The film includes a wealth of information about the Iraq War, and the film's anti-war stance gets as much attention as the group's musical performances. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Bernard Shakey, Neil Young
Written By: Neil Young, Mike Cerre
Genres: Documentary, Drama, Musical & Performing Arts, Special Interest

In Theaters: Jul 25, 2008 Limited
On DVD: Sep 30, 2008
Studio: Roadside Attractions

Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
It is a good, strong documentary.
Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle
Many come to the shows unprepared for the heavy sermonizing. Others call for it. The documentary seems equally divisive.
Neil Genzlinger, New York Times
CSNY Déjà Vu has some delicious moments, but you never quite shake the feeling that it's documenting a tempest in a teapot.
Kyle Smith, New York Post
The band's harmonies have crumbled and their new songs sound like paint being chipped off an aluminum shed with a garden rake. Their hits would sound better on the next eight-track you see at a yard sale.
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Young, who directed the movie, compares today's climate with the Vietnam era, and doesn't bother hiding his disappointment in the present.
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
Recent and archival interview, news, war and music footage, which often juxtapose the Vietnam and Iraq conflicts, round out this unflinching, well-constructed picture.
Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
The combination of music with the performers' dedication makes this more moving than a concert souvenir, though they are almost upstaged by touching moments with veterans.
Lee Marshall, Screen International
This is not a rock tour film for CSNY fans so much as a rambling, occasionally thought-provoking, sometimes moving enquiry into the question of whether the sixties protest music generation has lost its leverage over hearts and minds.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
CSNY fires up this rousing rockumentary, the camera's rough cut tendencies not withstanding. In other words, call me stuff like geriatric and bloated - as malice-minded talking head reporters do - but whatever you do, don't diss my peace activism.
Stan Hall, Oregonian
What saves CSNY/Deja Vu from its self-importance is the surprisingly lively, timely and timeless music.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
Neil Young, though he be the writer of some of the finest, most trenchant, angriest political songs of the last fifty years, has no skill at marshaling arguments in a cinematic context.
Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com
The problem isn't what it's communicating. It's the awkward structure and tendency toward redundancy. The film's a hodgepodge of songs, old footage and stories of the Iraq War that just doesn't come together with any sense of narrative cohesiveness.
Sara Maria Vizcarrondo, Boxoffice Magazine
One can't help finding it funny that the most poorly positioned elements in the film are musical ones, yet the uniquely raw and under-produced sound of the band does find itself a comfortable home in this raw and under-produced doc.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
Come to think of it, maybe the reason the movie spends so much time patting the band on the back is because it is obvious movie audiences aren't likely to.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
CSNY Déjà Vu doesn't break any new documentary ground, but it does exactly what it sets out to do: Preserve a live event and make it available to a broader audience.
Ted Fry, Seattle Times
Might have packed a stronger punch with more commitment to both the music and the message.