Lee Eisenberg The 2000 US presidential election shocked the world. For years, the presidential elections had gone by without a hitch, but suddenly a bunch of irregularities showed up in Florida. Jay Roach's "Recount" focuses on this story. What the movie makes clear is that the US election system is actually one of the most backwards and dysfunctional. On top of that, Florida had denied thousands of the right to vote due to their names being similar to those of felons. In the end, Al Gore conceded despite having apparently won the popular vote. Michael Moore called it A Very American Coup.The movie does a good job telling the story. The main focus is on Ron Klain (Kevin Spacey, a previously renowned actor now pretty much ruined due to the recent revelations of his misdeeds) and Michael Whouley (Denis Leary), both of whom try to not only figure out what happened, but convince Florida's supreme court and then the US Supreme Court to allow the recount to continue. Although the viewer knows the ending, it's still riveting to see the inner workings of the campaign, but also the shenanigans that got pulled. Those hanging chads really screwed everyone over. And boy, was Katharine Harris a creep! Laura Dern's performance as her makes her look wacky but also makes clear that she had a vile side.Part of what I thought about while watching the movie is how different things would be today had Gore become president. It's commonly understood that he would've kept us out of Iraq, but I suspect that he would've prevented the 9/11 attacks by paying attention to the presidential daily briefing announcing Osama bin Laden's plans to attack the US (meaning that we wouldn't have had every mess that resulted from that).Anyway, it's a movie that I recommend. Jay Roach, originally known for the Austin Powers movies and the "Meet the Parents" movies, has proved to be quite adept with these politically-themed movies. He also gave us "Game Change" (about John McCain's hiring of Sarah Palin as his running mate), "The Campaign" (about an over-the-top senate campaign), "Trumbo" (about Dalton Trumbo) and "All the Way" (about Lyndon Johnson's efforts to pass the Civil Rights Act). The rest of the cast includes John Hurt (V for Vendetta), Tom Wilkinson (The Full Monty), Ed Begley Jr, Bob Balaban, Bruce McGill (Animal House) and Mitch Pileggi (The X Files).

stefan_motologa James Baker (Tom Wilkinson) It was, for me, the most interesting character. What was striking about him was the contrast between his loyalty for Bush senior, a commendable trait, and his actions directed towards the blocking of a fundamental process in a democracy: elections. It was sad to see a man, who in the process of becoming friend with another, lost sight of fundamental values and principles. He is also a man who thinks about himself (like Ben Ginsberg—Bob Balaban) that he is worthy and honorable, a fact clearly rebutted by his actions. He made every effort necessary in order to hinder the finding of truth about the votes. He practically blocked the validation of hundreds of votes of his fellow citizens and all this without any feeling of remorse.Mac Stipanovich (Bruce McGill) Mac „the Knife" is a mercenary. Is interested only in making people to behave favorable to the interest of the people who pay him. Is not interested in doing the right thing, doesn't have a guilty conscience, his mission is simple and he does it effectively. You can wonder how can this kind of people can live with themselves (the ones who were lobbying for tobacco, alcohol, now the war on drugs...) Mark Herron (Adam LeFevre) He is the idealist in this movie. A man who makes sacrifices in order to do the right thing. He is fired from his law firm because in Florida the majority of law firms have as their clients republicans and they don't want to jeopardize those business contracts.Clay Roberts (Gary Basaraba) He's a republican who wants to fallow the law. He is one of the few who still believe that the new president must be the one who has the largest number of votes. He is also for the extension of the time needed to finalize the manual counting of votes. Nevertheless he acted in such a way as to influence the Judge Charles Burton in the direction desired by the republicans. The law is interpreted in such a way as to favor the republicans.Ron Klain (Kevin Spacey) He seems interested in the truth, we see this early on in the movie, he constantly repeats that the right to vote is fundamental in a democracy and every vote counts. Despite the fact that he is fired from the position of chief of staff, he stays with the campaign. He is the one who expresses the stake of their actions: is important to know the truth about the votes, but even he insists that the counting to take place in the most liberal counties in Florida.

blanche-2 HBO's "Recount" from 2008 captures all of the tension, frustration, and insanity of the 2000 Presidential race problems in Florida that resulted in a recount in some counties.I can well remember one network throwing the state to Bush when it looked for all the world like it was too close, and that was just the beginning of an all-nighter. It was just too compelling to turn off the television.So it is with the film version of those weeks. "Recount" has Kevin Spacey, Tom Wilkinson, Laura Dern, Ed Begley Jr., Bob Balaban, John Hurt, and Denis Leary. The film begins with Florida going to Bush, Gore about to concede when he's stopped, the phone conversation between Bush and Gore (Gore: Well, you don't have to get so snippy about it") and then all the fun in Florida with the smiling Ms. Harris, the hanging chads, the dimpled chads, and the Supreme Court.Kevin Spacey plays Ron Klain, a senior in the Gore campaign who had been ousted a year earlier when it was believed he was too loyal to Clinton. Spacey is brilliant in the role of a man who proves he is loyal to a fault and can fight in the trenches with the best of them. His final telephone call from Al Gore is very poignant and emotional.I really thought for a few minutes that the producers hired Warren Christopher to play himself. Needless to say, John Hurt was perfection in the role.Besides Spacey, the big acting kudos go to Tom Wilkinson as James Baker, Bush's legal adviser. As the confident, handsome, and charismatic Baker, Wilkinson manages to portray him as having real humanity, even though I believe the film was slightly skewed toward the Democrats. As Katherine Harris, Laura Dern is hilarious as the vapid, overly made up, vague Harris - if her role had been any larger, she would have stolen the film."Recount" does present both sides of this difficult moment in history - in the end, you can't help but feel that both sides were relying on political affiliations to win the vote - be it the democratic-leaning counties, the conservative Supreme Court, or the fact that Florida is Jeb Bush land. And you can't help wondering what would have happened if the machines in the poorer counties hadn't been jammed with old chads so that the votes could only be dimpled, if the hard-of-seeing elderly had been clearer about whom they were voting for, if more blacks had been able to vote, and if the entire state had been recounted by hand. We'll never know.

Jackson Booth-Millard From Emmy winning director Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents), this is quite an interesting politics drama (apparently documentary). Basically, it is November 2000, and it is nearing the final results for the U.S. presidential election (George Bush vs. Al Gore). The final results of Florida are broadcast, but the ballot numbers do not add up, and a series of recounts begin to find the correct amount that will determine who Florida voted to be President. Lead adviser of the Democrat, Gore, is Ron Klain (Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Kevin Spacey), who is getting all help from grandees Warren Christopher (John Hurt) and James Baker (Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Tom Wilkinson). Self-serving Secretary of State for Florida, and then laughing stock, Katherine Harris (Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Laura Dern) has a lot to answer for also. All the recounting isn't completed, and it wouldn't have made much difference, Bush still became President of the United States. Also starring Emmy nominated Bob Balaban as Ben Ginsberg, Ed Begley Jr. as David Boies, Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Denis Leary as Michael Whouley and Bruce McGill as Mac Stipanovich. You do have to pay quite a bit of attention to understand the recount stuff, and why the numbers weren't accurate, but you can still conjure up the story, and enjoy the performances from some great stars. It won the Emmys for Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing, and it was nominated for Outstanding Art Direction, Outstanding Casting and Outstanding Writing, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. Very good!