A melange of music and message

CSNY's concert film is a potent but oddly focused antiwar documentary that upsets some.

By JON BREAM, Star Tribune

Last update: July 24, 2008 - 7:05 PM

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CSNY/DÉJÀ VU

★★ 1/2 out of 4 stars

Rated: R for language and brief war images.

Theater: Uptown.

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I cry at movies. Sappy songs make me cringe, but sentimental movies cause me to tear up. I'd be ideal for a test audience for the Hallmark Channel.

To my surprise, I pulled out my hankie twice during "CSNY/Déjà Vu," the new documentary about Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 2006 concert tour. I wasn't getting misty-eyed for "Wooden Ships," "Teach Your Children" or other nostalgic songs.

My eyes got wet when a California single mom talked about losing her son in the Iraq war to friendly fire. Tears of joy ran down my cheek after seeing a young Marine from Ohio play his punkish songs on acoustic guitar for his fellow soliders in Iraq and later perform them in a U.S. hotel room for an audience of one -- Neil Young, who raved about the serviceman's songwriting.

"Déjà Vu" is more an antiwar documentary than a behind-the-scenes rockumentary about an aging quartet of liberal hippies. Using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, Young directed this 96-minute movie. He also was the instigator of CSNY's scathingly antiwar Freedom of Speech Tour in 2006 that featured his rip-roaring, Bush-bashing "Living With War" album.

Young is no Michael Moore. This is a powerful but oddly focused film. At first, it takes you backstage and on the bus with the balding boys in the band. Our guide is longtime TV war correspondent Mike Cerre, who is "embedded" with the band, just as he has been embedded five times with U.S. troops in Iraq.

There is hardly anything revelatory about CSNY. The best stuff is seeing them out of their musical element, such as Stephen Stills campaigning for Democratic congressional candidates during his time off on the road and Young meeting with a group of war veterans.

As expected, there are some potent musical moments onstage, especially the new and old antiwar songs. The pivotal piece is "Let's Impeach the President," which causes a ruckus in Atlanta. A conservative talk-radio host disses CSNY, and a series of fans express their vitriolic displeasure at being barraged with anti-Bush messages at an entertainment event.

Watching concertgoers flip the bird at the band and stalk out during the performance of "Impeach" really heightens the tension. Southern men don't need Young around. Interviews with these ticked-off music lovers show just how divided our country is.

Too bad all this conflict comes too late in the film. It might have seemed manipulative to inject this controversy earlier, but, frankly, it's the only real surprise in "Déjà Vu." Otherwise, when you watch the rest of the movie, you probably realize that we have all been here before.

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719