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Movies / Upcoming / 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.

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

US 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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Reviews for Shut Up & Sing

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
07/20/07
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It isn't a disciplined doco, and the fragmentation of the throughline makes for occasional sags in the film, but the filmmakers mean well.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
07/20/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

"Shut Up & Sing" evolves into an engrossing sociological study about brand perception, the fickle nature of fame, the perils of spiraling media mayhem, and de facto censorship spawning from industrywide groupthink.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
12/07/06
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

In watching the documentary Shut Up & Sing, one thought comes to mind. We all may be over the Dixie Chicks.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
11/16/06
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

The Dixie Chicks are who we thought they were.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
12/11/06
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Shut Up & Sing teeters on the edge of deifying Maines, Maguire and her sister, banjo and guitar player Emily Robison, for their perseverance. But the film also focuses on the shrewd strategies they adopt in trying to keep their career afloat.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
10/27/06
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press

The intimate, fly-on-the-wall context is what's most winning.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
11/16/06
Bob Townsend
Bob Townsend
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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

Shut Up & Sing wrestles with a number of compelling issues facing the Dixie Chicks without going into too much depth on any particular one.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
11/10/06
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin
AV Club

Free speech and its ramifications are at the heart of "Shut Up & Sing," which recognizes that for the celebrity, engaging in a public exchange of ideas and opinions isn't always without its costs. The price can be dire.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
09/14/07
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

A melodic wakeup call; where bluegrass meets grassroots politics.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
06/29/07
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC

A fascinating look at the intersection of commerce, celebrity, and controversy.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
11/18/06
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe

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

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

Succeeds as a summation of America's shaky grasp of freedom. And while the footage of the girls at work and play sometimes seems inconsequential, there are moments that are as unexpectedly pleasing as the band's soft country sounds.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
06/29/07
Richard Luck
Richard Luck
Channel 4 Film

The film is about the way hazards force artists to rethink careers and, in some cases, do better work.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
12/01/06
Charlotte Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

... unfettered access to the band's strategy sessions with their manager and publicist yields a fascinating story nonetheless ...

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
11/16/06
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

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.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
11/17/06
Mary Houlihan
Mary Houlihan
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Shut Up and Sing tells the story of three young women whose belief in America is bred in the bone, and it shames their critics.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/19/07
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's no more soul-stirring way to relive the last three years, in all their miserable divisiveness, than to see Shut Up & Sing.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
11/16/06
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
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