Humor is the best way to tell an uncomfortable truth and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast is a reminder. This movie is big, smart, a continuous joy to watch - and dead serious. Using a colorful approach to a horrifying topic, Palast uses cartoons, in-your-face interviews, and deadpan humor to uncover a monstrous scheme to defraud 7 million non-white Americans of their right to vote on November 8 – before it happens.
The film opens in typical noir fashion on a rainy night in Times Square. The filmmaker begins, “My name’s Palast, Greg Palast, I’m an investigative reporter, I hunt billionaires who misbehave. Once every four years I become a crime reporter. The crime? Election theft.” The story then follows Palast and his trusty sidekick Leni Badpenny (!) as they investigate a list of 7 million registered voters, mostly non-white, suspected of voting in two or more states. Palast proceeds to investigate whether or not the list is proof of a “massive double voting crime ring” or just part of a scheme to keep these voters, mostly Democrats, from voting in the 2016. Palast then unveils who made the list, how it was made, who is funding it, and why.
While imperfect, with somewhat dated humor arising on occasion, the film is written to seamlessly take you from element to element, player to player, through a story that includes, among other things, the Key Stone Pipeline, Detroit, the economic crash of 2008, and the upcoming presidential election. The film is worth watching, if for nothing else, for the delight Palast and his crew take in investigative filmmaking. The most exciting moments show Palast crashing three separate private events to take on billionaires who are directly funding this scheme. When he’s not crashing parties, Palast is visited by a cartoon bird, detectives from Law and Order: SVU, and Shailene Woodley, who help him along his quest.
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy is in-your-face, opinionated, and loud. Part of the political film canon that includes The Thin Blue Line; it tries to affect change in the real world by taking on a story the mainstream media will not. The film is a warning that elections have been stolen before, and will be again, if something isn’t done.
