Shut Up & Sing is further proof that today’s best American films are documentaries.
Shut Up & Sing (2006)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
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.
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
Get This Movie
Reviews for Shut Up & Sing
These two movies — one about family and one about freedom — never quite dovetail.
The Dixie Chicks certainly don't shut up, but they do sing in Shut Up & Sing; and while some may wish they'd done more of one or the other, there's no denying the power of this documentary.
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.
...[We] see the real concern as the backlash gets serious enough to prompt death threats and the affair takes its toll on band members' families.
Whether you love or hate the outspoken Maines, you've got to give her this much: She's never boring.
However you feel about the Dixie Chicks flap, you can enjoy the way Kopple and Peck capture candid moments.
What emerges is an intimate and fascinating portrait of the three women who, instead of being 'divided and conquered,' stick together and build something new.
The filmmakers give us a good taste of what took the Chicks to such great heights
... [Kopple] takes us inside big-dollar professional entertainment and lets us see ego and stupidity and self-indulgence at play just as fiercely as artistry.
Whatever the ultimate effect on the group's career, their excursion into politics produced a wonderfully watchable movie.
... unfettered access to the band's strategy sessions with their manager and publicist yields a fascinating story nonetheless ...
In watching the documentary Shut Up & Sing, one thought comes to mind. We all may be over the Dixie Chicks.
There's no more soul-stirring way to relive the last three years, in all their miserable divisiveness, than to see Shut Up & Sing.
They went on stage as the biggest act in country music only to be told that the country they were singing about doesn't want to hear what they really think.
The film as a whole is less a political document than it is a sensitively detailed backstage portrait of a unique musical phenomenon.
The drama suffers: The Dixie Chicks don't provide a rebellious force to rise against the inanity they faced.
Latest News for Shut Up & Sing
October 31, 2006:
RTIndie: Can Indie Studios Survive Without Big Studio Backing?
With the sale of independent-minded ThinkFilm last week, can indie film distributors survive without big studio backing? More...
October 26, 2006:
Box Office Guru Preview: Saw III Brings The Pain
Blood will flow and screams will be deafening at North American multiplexes this weekend when the horror sequel "Saw III" buzzes its way into theaters. While there... More...
October 26, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Fire" Blazes; "Scissors" Isn't Sharp Enough; "Saw III" Not Screened: Guess The Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got the return of Jigsaw ("Saw III," starring Tobin Bell), a tale of rebellion in apartheid-era South Africa ("Catch a Fire,"... More...
October 21, 2006:
click for trailer and trailer review in Greek ![]()
More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Shut Up & Sing at Rotten Tomatoes
- Shut Up & Sing at IGN
Fresh Links
Featured

Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.

What were your favorites? Least favorites? The funniest and scariest? Moviefone wants to know!

Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



