Those wondering how a country in the middle of two separate half-decade-long wars and an economy teetering on the edge of total collapse could, a couple weeks ago, find the news cycle surrounding its impending presidential election hijacked for two-plus days by talk about lipstick on a pig will find unnerving answer in this engrossing, timely, clear-eyed documentary about the late Lee Atwater, the grandfather of modern-day political dirty tricks. A silver-tongued rogue known for his affinity for blues music as well as cutthroat, win-at-all-costs maneuvering, Atwater, more than any single politician, pioneered the art of hard-knuckle campaigning, gleefully turning elections into a series of empty tabloid moments and coded-language, race-baiting entreaties (see: Willie Horton) even as his personal charm largely anesthetized people to his tactics.

Director Stefan Forbes wisely eschews the cinematic rudder of narration, instead intercutting archival footage and perspicacious interviews with friends, journalists and party wonks of all political persuasions, including Terry McAuliffe, Ed Rollins, Tucker Eskew, Mary Matalin and Sam Donaldson. There’s even footage — somewhat poignant or sadsack, depending on your point-of-view — of ex-Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, torpedoed by Atwater’s Horton ad, padding around his modest brownstone and fixing himself breakfast, speaking in rueful, begrudging admiration for the man who brought down his political career, but half-joking, darkly, “If I’d taken care of the father, we wouldn’t have heard from the son.”

The resulting full-bodied portrait is pulse-quickening, wry and frequently upsetting, but never less than unswervingly fair-minded, letting viewers sort out the many contradictions surrounding this small town South Carolina boy turned king-maker. One thing, though, is certain. Despite Atwater being felled by a brain tumor at 40 years old — and allegedly renouncing many of incendiary methods in his last days — the long shadow of his influence can be seen in the uninterrupted chain of Republican presidential string-pullers: Atwater, who got Bush 41 elected as his campaign chairman and once described the current president as his “number one soulmate,” mentored Karl Rove, who in turn mentored current McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt. Cue the Shirley Bassey… (InterPositive Media, unrated, 87 minutes)

When is a vote really not a vote? Well, plenty of the time, it seems, sadly and frighteningly. A sort of political companion piece to Alex Gibney’s Sundance-minted 2005 documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, which at its most basic level shrewdly tackled the inanity and insanity of corporate culture, Stealing America: Vote by Vote looks at the ludicrousness of the election process, and its extreme, and increasing, fallibility in the digital age.

Bringing together behind-the-scenes perspectives from the U.S. presidential election of 2004 — plus startling stories from key Congressional races in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2006 — the film sheds light on almost a full decade of vote counts that don’t match votes cast (3.4 million from the 2004 election, or a total of 2.7 percent of the total number of ballots cast). In the shadows of another hugely important national election — and one seemingly destined to be close, at least electorally — it’s hard to imagine a more topical, important documentary.

Narrated by Peter Coyote, the film cold-starts rather awkwardly, and for a while seems merely a timely yet staid classroom filmstrip. Eventually, though, as anecdotal incidents scattered like marbles seemingly reveal a larger behavioral pattern, Stealing America gathers energy, focus and an angsty head of steam. Director Dorothy Fadiman has the natural advantage, of numbers and narrative, on her side, so she doesn’t need to really take an antagonistic stance or pump too much showmanship into her project. And she doesn’t; she’s the anti-Michael Moore in this regard. Unfortunately, Fadiman also has some trouble initially locating the pulse of her tale, and structuring things to make the big picture clear. In the end, though, Stealing America still swings a heavy bat — the issue wins out, and carries the day, and because of that the movie’s not inconsiderable shortcomings matter a lot less than they would were the subject matter different. For the full review, from H Magazine, click here. More to follow next week, in the form of interview tidbits with Fadiman and Leon County Florida State Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho. (Direct Cinema Limited, unrated, 90 minutes)