Dark Money

Even Open Secrets shows less than 10% of "Dark Money" is corporate. More of it is from unions and the MOST is from foundations and supposed charities that are actually highly political. This is lousy reporting leaving out 90% of a phenomena because the data show the large majority of corporate money goes to Democrats.

I'll just get this out of the way: I believe that 'Citizens United' in effect suppresses the free speech of real citizens. So yeah, I am biased. Having said that, this is not a review of the subject but a review of the documentary itself. And, all things considered, "Dark Money" is honestly a pretty middle-of-the-road documentary.

Here's what I liked about it: I don't live in Montana so it was interesting to learn a little about the state's history and about their local politics. I also have to commend the filmmakers for taking on a decidedly non-sexy issue that is easy to overlook. The film also speaks to individuals with a range of political backgrounds and ideologies, although there's limited representation of the "dark money" interests themselves for obvious reasons (interest which, it must be said, are often not corporations directly but wealthy individuals with strong corporate leanings).

Here's what I didn't like: the film drags in many spots. The same ideas end of being restated multiple times. The numerous individuals and organizations involved can be difficult to keep track of. The documentary would have been stronger by focusing in on just a few individuals rather than trying to tell a universal story. The film's term "dark money" also combines a number of related yet distinct concepts, such as: campaign finance, political action committees, disclosure, corporate influence, campaign coordination, and good old fashioned political corruption. Again I feel the film's argument would have been stronger if they have focused on a specific case instead making more nebulous, universal arguments.

Overall, I also just don't think this documentary will change anyone's opinion. Those who dislike "dark money" will like the film because it confirms what they already believe. Those who view "Citizens United" as a win for free speech, will dismiss this film as biased. And the depressing truth is that those citizens who can be swayed by random political mailers are never going to watch a rather boring documentary, no matter how important the subject it covers is.

Given the polarized nature of our nation at the moment, maybe the sad truth is that it's just too much to expect any documentary to change anyone's mind. Still, I can't help but feel a more deft documentary on the subject of "dark money" could have, at the very least, gotten a few more people thinking about these issues and what they mean for our democracy.

Nice documentary on US political campaign contributions and disclosure laws

There is no doubt these are very scary times that we're living in, and this movie is certainly proof of that. I've been interested in campaign financing reform for a long time now and this movie does a really good job of getting to the heart of how horrific and heinous that influence this is on American politics. For anyone who has spent a lot of time overseas in third world countries, you see that the corruption tends to be fairly transparent. However in America the corruption is equal to or greater than that which you see in the third world, but it's very well hidden, and it's hidden with a great degree of skill and craftsmanship by criminals organizations like American Citizens for Prosperity, the Koch brothers (who appear to be satanic, lol) and so many other interest groups that fund campaigns in a very dark manner.

This has to stop and the only way it can be stopped as they said in the film, is if we as Americans get angry enough to take things into our own hands like the brave people of Montana have done.

This film is very well done, it's very engaging, the people who are interviewed are real salt of the earth people who are genuine and sincere and concerned about the direction things are moving. This is a very cautionary tale, kudos to the filmmakers.

I went into this movie expecting to be educated and entertained...in this age of political correctness and constant skepticism that we live in I'll watch anything that will help shed some light into this darkness. What I got was an unexpected nap...

AVOID!