http://www.variety.com/VE1117931462.htmlBarbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck have crafted an insightful and heartfelt look at the experiences of the Dixie Chicks over the last three years, chronicling the often bizarre consequences of singer Natalie Maines' anti-Bush wisecrack on a London stage. Maines' statement is captured in "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing," as are the meetings where they plot how to circumvent the core country audience and, eventually, how to reroute a tour and cancel shows due to poor ticket sales. It's the rare thorough documentary on a musical act whose dilemmas are faced in the here and now, one that should win over fans of the Chicks on the fence and of music docus and perhaps create a little cultural stir as well.
Filmmakers have created a nonchronological story to emphasize the Greek tragedy behind the Dixie Chicks' spiral into country music's public enemy No. 1. The Chicks vs. President Bush, the Chicks vs. Toby Keith, the Chicks vs. country radio -- every antagonistic angle is covered, and yet Maines, Emily Robison and Martie McGuire persevere, with their chroniclers providing a sympathetic tone to their every struggle.
"Shut Up" identifies the Dixie Chicks as sincere and honest, a self-contained matriarchal community that doesn't back down and, per the doc's p.o.v., deserves support for its integrity alone.
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Maines is seen backstage at Shepherds Bush Empire asking for an update on the just-launched war in Iraq; within hours -- with cameras rolling -- she offhandedly says, "We're ashamed the president is from Texas," the home state of both Bush and the Chicks. She makes the statement, turns to a bandmate and laughs.
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