DVD Spotlight | "The Best Government Money Can Buy?"

With a historic election less than a week old that shifted the balance of power of our government, it seems like the perfect time for a film like Francis Megahy's new documentary The Best Government Money Can Buy. After all, it deals with perhaps one of the most important issues of our time - the role of professional lobbyists in our government.

It was one of Barack Obama's key campaign issues, and Megahy takes a behind the scenes look at professional lobbying and just how powerful it has become. It's a relatively new phenomenon, and one that few people know much about. Megahy's goal is to pull back the curtain on lobbying and find the truth about just how much of our government is based on monetary contributions.

Francis Megahy in THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY?

In that regard he only half succeeds. It's hard to see the full picture of lobbying when all you are doing is interviewing professional lobbyists. There is little in the way of new information here. It's more of a civics class overview of lobbying. It provides plenty of food for thought, and indeed embodies an essential question of our time - just how much say-so do we have in our own government when such powerful special interests are pouring money into politician's coffers? The rudimentary nature of the film prevents it from being the hard hitting expose that it really should have been, but it's a start.

In a time when these questions are more important than ever, The Best Government Money Can Buy asks the right questions, but doesn't have the investigative tenacity to dig below the surface.

GRADE - ★★½ (out of four)

THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY is now available on DVD from Cinema Libre.