Shut Up And Sing Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Shut Up and Sing

An interesting film about a band I'd never heard. The chicks mainstream country (though well played and sung) isn't really my thing but that doesn't stop this being a highly watchable film. The construction, which flits between 2003 when lead singer Natalie Maines made a (pretty innocuous) comment about George Bush which threatened to destroy the band's career and 2005/6 as they record and promote their next album can get annoying as it doesn't let you settle into the storytelling. However both sections of the film provide compelling material.

It helps that Maines and founding members Emily Robison and Martie Maguire are engaging people. They come across very well on camera; smart, often funny, and passionate about both their music and their family life. They also present a completely united front when it would have been much easier to distance themselves from what Maines said.

It's perhaps not AS personal an insight into a band as Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, but Shut Up and Sing is a comparable achievement.

Interesting

The all girls band was doing so well until the performance in Shepherds Bush, when the lead singer made an unpopular remark without thinking. It just shows that one should think before speaking. Or as the title says, just shut up and sing.