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Movies / On DVD / Shut Up & Sing
Shut Up & Sing

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Shut Up & Sing (2006)

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Reviews Counted:117

Fresh:105

Rotten:12

Average Rating:7.6/10

Consensus: Though ostensibly an intimate look at the Dixie Chicks after their 2003 anti-Bush remark, the film achieves broader relevance by exploring how media, politics, and celebrities intertwine.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language.

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Theatrical Release:Oct 27, 2006 Limited

Box Office: $1,072,805

Synopsis: This documentary captures the female country-&-western group the Dixie Chicks in performance around the U.S. and London between the years 2003 and 2006. While performing in 2003, singer Natalie... This documentary captures the female country-&-western group the Dixie Chicks in performance around the U.S. and London between the years 2003 and 2006. While performing in 2003, singer Natalie Maines ignited a maelstrom of controversy and red-state outrage when she declared--from a London stage on the eve of the Iraqi conflict--that she was ashamed that President George W. Bush was from her home state of Texas. When a rabidly right-wing group picked up on it, the band found themselves in the center of controversy regarding the nature of patriotism, freedom of speech, feminism, and the split between pro- and anti-war Americans. Filmmaker Barbara Kopple brings us the fly-on-the-wall view of the next three years, capturing Haines and sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire in dressing rooms, on stage, and in recording studios, bonding with each other, their families, producer Rick Rubin, and their supportive manager, Simon Renshaw. Through the crises, they keep their sense of humor and sisterhood, not backing down from their liberal stance, and turning the backlash into a triumph. They also make some great music, and the film includes plenty of riveting, intense footage of the band in performance onstage and in the studio. Among the faces appearing in archival footage are President Bush, Bill Maher, and right-wing country star Toby Keith. [More]

Starring: Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, Martie Maguire, Rick Rubin

Starring: Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, Martie Maguire, Rick Rubin, George W. Bush, Adrian Pasdar

Director: Barbara Kopple, Cecilia Peck

Director: Barbara Kopple, Cecilia Peck
Producer: David Cassidy, Claude Davies, Barbara Kopple, Cecilia Peck
Studio: Weinstein Company

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Release:

Feb 20, 2007

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Reviews for Shut Up & Sing

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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Shut Up & Sing isn't a particularly deep documentary, but it is a consistently engaging one.

Full Review Source: Show Business Weekly | comment Comment
11/21/06
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
Show Business Weekly

... a portrait of the group that is angry, indignant, musical and inspiring.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
10/26/06
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film captures plenty of behind-the-scenes banter and plenty of music, but it doesn't really dig very deeply into the frightening mob mentality that followed the comment.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
12/30/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The Dixie Chicks' struggle with the conflicting demands of art and commerce as portrayed in this documentary shows that they're still not ready to make nice.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
11/17/06
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

A testimonial to the viability and efficiency of the American marketplace of ideas, where Toby Keith, Natalie Maines, Bill O'Reilly and millions of other voices are free to annoy, heckle, praise, please and sing...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
12/01/06
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

The filmmakers give us a good taste of what took the Chicks to such great heights

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
11/17/06
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A gold statue of the Dixie Chicks should be erected in Maines' hometown of Lubbock, Texas.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment 1 Comment
06/29/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

The film as a whole is less a political document than it is a sensitively detailed backstage portrait of a unique musical phenomenon.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
11/16/06
Sara Brady
Sara Brady
Premiere Magazine

These are very hot ladies -- as much for their looks as for their smart minds, values and talent. If you didn't admire and respect them before you see this film, I think you will, after.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
11/30/06
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

We come to realize to what extent Natalie Maines ranks as an American heroine.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
12/06/06
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

A rousing documentary that salutes freedom of speech and the resiliency and creativity of the Dixie Chicks.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
10/26/06
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Shut Up & Sing is further proof that today’s best American films are documentaries.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
11/17/06
Robert W. Butler
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star

Going in with just a rudimentary knowledge of their music, by the time Natalie Maines utters one of the best closing lines of the year, I had never been so proud to be an American.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/04/06
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

...this documentary may be just the thing to find them a new audience. This non-Country fan was surprised by how much she enjoyed their music.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
11/04/06
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Academy Award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple does an excellent job capturing the Chicks' thoughts, and uses judicious clips from political speeches to put Maines' off-the-cuff comment into context.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
10/27/06
Angel Cohn
Angel Cohn
TV Guide's Movie Guide

While watching the Chicks balance career and family life, Kopple and Peck paint an intimate portrait of a group breaking free of being a brand.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
10/30/06
Kevin Courrier
Kevin Courrier
Boxoffice Magazine

Whatever the ultimate effect on the group's career, their excursion into politics produced a wonderfully watchable movie.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
11/16/06
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The thrust of the movie lies in the trenchant mix of image-rebuilding strategies and genuine politicization the Chicks undergo

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/28/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

They make no apologies for who they are or what they've said. I may not agree with everything they say, but I admire them for their conviction and I enjoyed their movie.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
12/27/06
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Despite death threats, boycotts and public vilification, the song has gone on for the Dixie Chicks. And that's not whistling Dixie.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
11/20/06
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly
 
 
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