Movie Review: Dixie Chicks Shut Up and Sing

Release Date: November 10, 2006
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Movie Title: Shut Up and Sing
Length in Minutes: 93
Studio: Cabin Creek Films
I would recommend
Rating out of 10 - 10 out of 10. This movie does what it is intended to do seamlessly.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. They were the highest selling female group in any genre. They held the distinction of being the only country western group and only female group in any genre in history to earn back to back Diamond Awards that notes the 10 million in record sales mark. Yet when America went to war, it seems the Dixie Chicks started one of their own. In a London concert on the eve of the Iraq war Natalie Maines lead singer makes the off the cuff comment: "Just so you know, we're on the good side with y'all. We do not want this war, this violence. And we're offended that the President of the United States is from Texas."

All the highs, lows and havoc that occurred just before and for the three years following Natalie's statement are here. The movie was created by Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple and Cecelia Peck and chronicles their lives both professional and personal from this defining moment to the start of their 2006 tour. It reveals a sisterhood that undergoes the good, the bad and the ugly together: raw emotion and miles of personal growth, making music and having babies, receiving death threats, and even has room for laughter.

There is an interesting gender dichotomy in this film. Toby Keith became a very quick rival when he did some Chick slamming of his own. This was unnecessary as the incident was wreaking its own havoc on them -- they were losing radio stations by the dozen and record sales were at an all time low. Kicking the Chicks while they were down, his comments were clearly politically motivated -- Keith did not suffer the same hits to his career that the Chicks did. He made it clear that country music was a George Bush supporting bunch, and the Chicks, in particularly Natalie Maines, had no business speaking her mind. Natalie made the gender dichotomy obvious by wondering why he wasn't being banned, nor were his sales plummeting. In fact, Keith fans were just eating up his furor against the Chicks. The Chicks fought back and made it clear to Toby and his fans alike how they felt about this disparity.

The movie illustrates how a lot of the backlash the Chicks have received has been more about how they handled the situation and less about the actual comment. The message this gives to us is that it is not okay for a woman to speak her mind, but when a man (i.e. Toby Keith) does the same thing, more power to him. This movie chronicled a battle that the Chicks lived day in and day out. They fought for three years to preserve All American values as fundamental and basic as freedom of speech while the very President they spoke of defended a war where American values are forgotten. If nothing else, this movie reveals a tenacious spirit amongst the Chicks and sends the message out to other young women in America and across the world - it is not just OK to say what you feel, it is your RIGHT.

What I enjoyed most about the movie is that we got to see these women as women, not just as artists and performers. We saw how this incident affected them to the very raw core. We saw not just outstanding recording and performance artists; we saw the Chicks as women, mothers, wives, and sisters struggling to survive in a cruel business and an even crueler world. This movie revealed a sisterhood that "undergoes the good, the bad, and the ugly together" as stated fervently by band member Emily Robison. We witnessed first hand what it was like to actually receive a death threat as Natalie made an emotional call to her psychic moments before the deadline that was to have ended her life.

No one has the right to criticize anyone without having walked a mile in their shoes, and that was another undertone and message of this film. Unless you have been told that you deserve to be strapped to a bomb and dropped over Iraq, you are in no place to judge the statements or the responses of these women. These women are human and strong and went through the aftermath united. As the film closed, group member Marty Maguire broke down saying she would give up her entire career if it meant Natalie could 'feel better' about ALL of it. These sentiments were carried through the whole film and the unique bond of both sisterhood and colleagues was illustrated effortlessly.

The message that the Dixie Chicks aren't going anywhere and will back down to no one was rampant through the film this is its purpose. It is a documentary that shows how even adversity would give the leading all female band an opportunity to grow as tremendous artists and performers who take the long road, and aren't ready to make nice. In the opening scene they laugh at blog comments about their "new angry song". In the closing scene we see them return to London and Sheperd's Bush, the theater of the "scene of the crime". Natalie greets their audience saying she has been asked all week what she was planning to say upon their return. She smiles and says to them, "Just so you know, we are offended that the President of the United States is from Texas."

The film has achieved the following awards:

• Aspen Film Fest 2006 - Audience Favorite Documentary (Won)
• Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2006 -- Best Documentary (Won)
• Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2007 - Best Song (The Neighbor) and Best Documentary (Nominations)
• Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2006 - Best Documentary (Nomination); Chicago International Film Festival 2006 won special jury prize for DocuFest competition
• Online Film Critics Society Awards 2007 -- Best Documentary (Nomination)
• San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2006 -- Best Non-Fiction Film (Won)
• Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards 2006 - Wyatt Award (Won)
• Woodstock Film Festival 2006 - Best Documentary Feature (Won)