[1][2][3] The film follows the Dixie Chicks, an all-female Texas-based country music trio, over a three-year period of intense public scrutiny, fan backlash, physical threats, and pressure from both corporate and conservative political elements in the United States after lead singer Natalie Maines publicly criticized then President of the United States George W. Bush during a live 2003 concert in London as part of their Top of the World Tour.

The film then cuts to a scene from the Dixie Chicks' March 10, 2003 concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire Theatre in London, England.

The atmosphere in the European audience is of dramatic opposition to the announcement from United States President George W. Bush's authorization of the invasion of Iraq.

It shows them with their husbands and their children, at home in Texas and in the recording studio in Los Angeles, getting their hair and makeup done before appearances, exchanging ribald remarks with each other, writing song lyrics and working on musical arrangements.

The title of the film is a lyric from the Dixie Chicks' 2006 post-controversy single "Not Ready to Make Nice" from the album Taking the Long Way.

[8] The song, "Not Ready to Make Nice" includes a reference to that very real death threat: And how in the world can the words that I said Send somebody so over the edge That they'd write me a letter Saying that I better shut up and sing or my life will be over?!

[10] At the time, CBS was the only major television network to have agreed to air the ads for the film, according to a Weinstein spokesperson, who said the company was also waiting on responses from ABC and Fox.

The critical consensus reads: "Though ostensibly an intimate look at the Dixie Chicks after their 2003 anti-Bush remark, the film achieves broader relevance by exploring how media, politics, and celebrities intertwine.

[27] The theatrical poster of the film borrowed a picture of the band from a memorable Entertainment Weekly cover, in which they are featured in the nude, with their privates cleverly hidden.