In the decades during which the Rolling Stones morphed from the World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band into the World's Oldest Rock 'n' Roll Band, Martin Scorsese ascended to the throne of America's Greatest Living Director. So it's impressive that in their new concert-film collaboration "Shine a Light," the Stones shine the brightest.

Scorsese is a bonafide fan who has used the Stones' song "Gimme Shelter" in three movies. But instead of assembling a comprehensive history of the band, as he did with Bob Dylan in "No Direction Home," he mostly focuses on the now, letting the sexagenarian rockers prove that their mojo will not fade away.

That mojo is best expressed in intimate settings, and the band was filmed at New York's 2,800-seat Beacon Theater in 2006. The show was a benefit for the Clinton Foundation, and former President Bill Clinton makes a glad-handing cameo during the sound check.

In the prelude to the concert, Scorsese playfully creates an illusion of chaos and impending disaster, as the nervous director pesters Mick Jagger for a final set list and a technician warns that the movie lights are so bright that the singer is in danger of burning up.

Of course, the gravest danger associated with the Stones these days is the danger of falling out of a coconut tree and breaking an arthritic hip. But onstage, they are a well-oiled machine that can still simulate the rebellion they used to embody.

During the opener "Jumpin' Jack Flash," Jagger's rooster routine on the catwalk and his peek-a-boo bare midriff elicit squeals from attractive young women who have been placed in the front row. The set list is seasoned with suggestive tunes including "Some Girls" and "Brown Sugar." And there's nothing subtle about an old Muddy Waters song called "Champagne and Reefer," during which the band is joined by blues guitar legend Buddy Guy.

Although this isn't an all-star concert as in Scorsese's "The Last Waltz," there are guest appearances by the White Stripes' Jack White on "Loving Cup" and Christina Aguilera in stilletto heels on a bumping-and-grinding "Live With Me."

But Scorsese, his nimble editor and 16 camera operators (including Albert Maysles, the director of "Gimme Shelter") concentrate on the four core band members: Jagger, bookend guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood, and gentleman drummer Charlie Watts. The bemused and bejeweled Richards even gets two numbers to remind us that he's a badly damaged singer.

In one of the few contemporary interviews, Richards and Wood confess that they're not great guitarists, either. But there's just enough archival footage in the movie to remind us how the band's been casting a spell for 45 years.

Jagger in the 1970s is refreshingly forthright when he tells Dick Cavett that he can easily imagine himself performing at age 60. And now that he's past that milestone, Jagger, the tireless jester, doesn't have an apologetic bone in his body.

Unlike their peers the Beatles, who imagined being spoon-fed at age 64, or the Who, who hoped to die before they got old, the Rolling Stones have never mistaken their music for art or ideology.

It's still only rock 'n' roll, and it's still a timeless source of satisfaction.

joewilliams@post-dispatch.com

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