Instead, the Abrams brothers allege in their lawsuit, "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry" was intended primarily to influence the 2004 presidential election in favor of the Democratic Massachusetts senator.

Marc Abrams, who invested $50,000, and Russell Abrams, who contributed $125,000, said investors had been told in a memorandum that the film's producers were "convinced that an award-winning, commercially successful film can be made."

The lawsuit alleges that the owners of the film rejected an offer from a major motion picture company to distribute it, because it would have been released this year to avoid politicizing the release. That offer, the lawsuit says, would have recouped a substantial portion of the investment in the film.

The plaintiffs said they have lost their investments because the film reported no income for 2004 and projects no significant income for 2005.

A lawyer for the Abrams brothers, Kenneth Sussmane, said his clients were seeking to recover their investments. The lawsuit also seeks damages of $1.3 million, which Sussmane said was the amount used to produce the film.

Butler said the lawsuit's allegations were "baseless and insulting to the artistic integrity of the film."

"My goal in making the film was to make a balanced film about a specific time in John Kerry's life and an important time in American history, regardless of Kerry's political agenda," Butler said in a statement issued by Ken Sunshine Consultants Inc.

Butler began documenting Kerry's life in 1969, convinced he would be president.

"Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry" plays like a 92-minute campaign ad for the former presidential candidate.

Butler, a friend of Kerry for 40 years, paints a loving portrait of a dedicated, natural leader during the Vietnam War and a dedicated, natural leader of veterans who protested the war after coming home.

Editor's note: