Shut Up & Sing (2006)

A documentary on the Dixie Chicks in the wake of singer Natalie Maines' anti-George W. Bush statement at a 2003 concert.

Directors:

Barbara Kopple, Cecilia Peck

Stars:

Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, Martie Maguire

8 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Natalie Maines	...	Herself
Emily Robison	...	Herself
Martie Maguire	...	Herself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Clayton Allen	...	Himself
Billy B.	...	Himself (archive footage)
Paul Beane	...	Himself
Cindi Berger	...	Herself
Barbara Boxer	...	Herself (archive footage)
Aaron Brown	...	Himself (archive footage)
Pat Buchanan	...	Himself (archive footage)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Randy Carroll	...	Himself
Dick Cheney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Anderson Cooper	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lewis Dickey	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

In 2003, the female country band, The Dixie Chicks, are at the top of their game being one of the most successful bands of all time. However with the US invasion of Iraq about to begin over frustrated worldwide objections about this needless war, one of the Chick vents off the cuff in concert about being ashamed of US President George W. Bush. This statement sparks a firestorm of organized and personal right wing attacks against the Chicks for daring to think they have the right to express a negative personal opinion about the President. This film covers the band's effort to ride out the turmoil that would leave their careers under a cloud, but would eventually give them a opportunity to grow as great artists who bow to no one.

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Plot Keywords:

band | right wing | singer | george w. bush | song | 

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Taglines:

Freedom of speech is fine as long as you don't do it in public.

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Music

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Dixie Chicks Documentary

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$50,103 (USA) (27 October 2006)

Gross:

$1,207,325 (USA) (19 January 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cabin Creek Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Shut Up and Sing" is also the name of a best-selling book by conservative talk radio pundit Laura Ingraham. In her book, Ingraham skewers the Dixie Chicks and other musical acts who use their concerts and television appearances to voice their political opinions.

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Goofs

Natalie is wearing a shirt that states "Dare to Be Free," in one shot the image is mirrored left to right. Evident in the text and her hair are reversed.

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Quotes

Old Man with Sunglasses: Freedom of speech is fine, but by god, you don't do it outside of the country and you don't do it in mass publicly.

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Connections

Features Super Bowl XXXVII (2003)

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Soundtracks

"The Long Way Around"
by Dixie Chicks

User Reviews

Ignore the rating!

Here's a perfect example of why you have to take the IMDb rating system with a grain of salt -- many of the people who hate the Dixie Chicks because they made an anti-Bush comment will give a rating of 1, even if they haven't seen the film. Pro-Dixie Chicks people will feel compelled to give it a 10 to balance out the 1s. Check the vote graph to see the absurd number of 10s and 1s it's getting.

The truth is, it's a pretty good documentary that's worth checking out. I knew very little about the group before seeing this film, but I'm now more likely to listen to (or buy) their music than I was before. I'm still amazed at the size of the backlash that was created. Hopefully this will open some people's eyes.