CSNY: Déjà Vu chronicles the 2006 tour by Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Graham Nash and David Crosby, from left, to promote Young’s Living With War, an album harshly critical of the Bush administration.

Roadside Attractions

Remember when Country Joe McDonald sang his anti-Vietnam anthem “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die-

Rag” for a cheering crowd of thousands at Woodstock in 1969? These days rock’s moral imperative to speak freely — and loudly and angrily — has largely been replaced by a desire to entertain and not offend. When Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines announced she was “ashamed” of George W. Bush at a 2003 concert, it was not exactly a Country Joe moment; she was crucified by conservatives and boycotted by radio stations and fans.

Undaunted, the graying rockers Crosby, Stills and Nash joined Neil Young on a 2006 tour to support Young’s stridently political album Living With War (one song is called “Let’s Impeach the President”). The tour documentary, CSNY Deja Vu, also has a clear agenda — Young directed it under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey — but it does attempt to capture the voices of those who criticize the group’s stance. Most are disgusted fans: One young fellow storming out of the concert says it’s wrong to criticize the government because “they’re smarter than you.”

The movie’s potentially engaging controversy — should artists afflict or merely comfort? — is sapped by its nightly news approach. Mike Cerre, a war correspondent hired by Young to do the filming, chases too many tangents: local political races, mothers of dead soldiers, Iraqi veteran support groups. As laudable as the idealism may be, the movie sometimes feels like a self-congratulatory victory lap.

**CSNY Déjà Vu

Starring: David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Neil Young

Rated: R, Contains brief war images and some profanity, mostly from angry Atlanta fans.