Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing

Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing is an eye-opening, thoroughly engaging documentary revolving around the firestorm of controversy that erupted after lead singer Natalie Maines made her now-infamous George Bush remark at 2003 concert (“we’re embarrassed that the President is from Texas”). Filmmakers Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck follow the trio of musicians as they attempt to carry on with their careers, though this soon proves to be a far more difficult task than they ever could have imagined. It’s clear almost immediately that Kopple and Peck aren’t looking to win over the band’s detractors, as Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing generally paints such folks as small-minded and flat-out ignorant (which they are, unquestionably). There’s consequently no overlooking the feeling that the filmmakers are preaching to the choir, yet there’s also no denying the movie’s overall effectiveness. The inclusion of certain moments (including Maines’ reference to Bush as a “dumb fuck”) will surely provoke either riotous applause or derisive boos from audiences (it was the former at the film fest screening I attended), ensuring that Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing remains as divisive as George Bush himself.

***1/2 out of ****