20130810: Documentary Review--The Big Buy

The Big Buy: Tom DeLay's Stolen Congress

1. American live action theatrical film, 2006, documentary, 75 minutes, 
2. IMDB rated the film 7.2/10.0 from 88 user reviews.
3. Tom DeLay rose from a 'piece of furniture' in the Texas Legislature to a money making dynamo who took effective control of the Texas legislature, then the US House of Representatives, where he became Majority Leader in the 2003.
4. Also profiled is Ronnie Earle, the relevant prosecutor in Travis County, where Austin is located.  A fair amount of screen time concerns Earle's motives in his prosecution of DeLay.
5. Democratic Texas legislators who were defeated in elections via floods of corporate funds are interviewed.
6. Several members of the press were interviewed, as were relevant lawyers, and other Texas leaders from the period.
7. Three stars of five.

One line summary:  The rise and fall of Tom DeLay in the Texas Legislature and the US House.

Cinematography: 5/10 Many of the archival clips are badly out of focus; sometimes the camera wobbles. Depth of field is consistently poor.

Sound: 9/10 Good, but not flawless.

Acting: not relevant.

Screenplay: 7/10 This is a sketch of the rise of Tom DeLay, and a more detailed accounting of his fall.  The fall included his indictment for felony money laundering charges related to using corporate money for political uses in violation of Texas law.  The indictment resulted in DeLay's resignation as  House Majority Leader in January, 2006, and his leaving the House in April, 2006.  (He was convicted in 2011, well after the film was released.)  The film does fairly well in representing differing points of view on the proceedings.