Customer Reviews

Recount [Blu-ray]

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What exactly went on behind the scenes of the 2000 election voting disaster, the one that decided the fates of Al Gore and George W. Bush? The HBO film "Recount" gives what I believe to be a fair representation of an historical event, which is ironic since the recount process put the very concept of fairness under intense scrutiny. We obviously all have an opinion on who rightfully won the presidency eight years ago, but I'm not here to debate who was right and who was wrong; I wasn't even old enough to vote back in the year 2000. I'm only here to review a movie. Yes, it tackles a political subject, but that doesn't mean it takes a definite political stance--generally speaking, each side has equal say, and not surprisingly, each side makes valid and not-so-valid points. Writer Danny Strong deserves a lot of praise, not only for showing both sides of the political spectrum, but also for not forcing us to agree with any side in particular.

I have no doubt the recount was more exhausting for those running the campaigns, simply because they were doing all the hard work; both candidates did nothing more than wait for the end result. Overseeing much of Gore's campaign was his former Chief of Staff, Ron Klain (Kevin Spacey), a loyal Democrat embittered after being replaced, first by Tony Coelho, then by Bill Daley (Mitch Pileggi). On election day--November 7--the Gore team gets word of a problem in Palm Beach County, Florida: a number of voters, confused by the ballot voting system, felt they had accidentally voted for Independent Pat Buchanan. This led to a number of TV networks receiving differing poll numbers by the end of the day, some confirming Gore's victory, others confirming Bush's. Hours of retractions and projections paved the way for a statewide machine recount, which meant that Gore was not yet willing to concede.

But problems arose with the machine recounts, mostly the fact that most voting centers were not willing to run the ballots through the machines a second time. They only re-tabulated the results saved on the machines' memory cards. At a certain point, machine recounts no longer seemed viable because of chads, those infamous bits of paper punched out of voting ballots. If the chad was left hanging, the machine could potentially push it back into the hole and read it as a non-vote. The same would be true of a dimpled chad (a chad not punched all the way through). Democratic strategists opted for a hand recount, believing it would more accurately reveal the voters' intentions. Klain and his team demanded the ballots be recounted in the four Florida counties likely to have voted Democratic: Broward, Miami-Dade, Volusa, and Palm Beach.

This set into motion an absolute legal nightmare. Secretary of State Katherine Harris (Laura Dern)--a staunch Bush supporter--immediately oversaw the certification process for the recount, refusing to extend the November 14 deadline despite the need for more time. With the help of former Secretary of State James Baker (Tom Wilkinson), Harris and her Republican advisors announced that hand recounts were not allowed, thus suspending the entire recount process. It wasn't long before the Democrats discovered something interesting: according to Texas law--signed by Bush when he was Governor--hand recounts are preferred over machine recounts, and a dimpled chad does count as a vote. But this begs the question: Why would an out-of-state law have any bearing on the Florida recount, even if it was signed by the potential President Elect?

And what about military ballots? Should they have counted at all? Keep in mind that they weren't given postmarks, signatures, or dates, meaning there was no way to prove they had been sent in before the deadline. Klain's attempts to keep these ballots out of the recount were thwarted as soon as Joseph Lieberman, Gore's running mate, publicly insisted that they be counted; at that point, it seemed less and less likely that Gore would win the election. Even when an African American pastor came forward as part of a voter purge list (simply for having a similar name to a convicted felon), little could be done to stop the inevitable. Never mind the fact that the list contained 20,000 illegal rejections, half of which were from the black population; the U.S. Supreme Court still decided to order a stay of Florida's undercounted ballots.

Of course, there has to be that final moment when Gore quotes a wise man: "I have to end this war when I know I can't win." He says this to Klain over the phone, officially backing down and letting Bush have the presidency. It's a somber moment to be sure, although I'm hard pressed to say that the entire point of "Recount" was for the audience to mourn Gore's loss and condemn Bush's victory. For the most part, the film's liberal and conservative perspectives are nicely balanced. In one scene, for example, Warren Christopher (John Hurt) says, "There's no shame in placing country above party," and that's a little too pacifistic for Klain's taste. Indeed, Christopher took the path of least resistance during the early stages of the recount, and he left before anything was resolved. By the time a resolution is reached, Michael Whouley (Denis Leary) walks with Klain and asks, "If W had asked for a recount, would the Supreme Court have stopped it?" What a thought-provoking question. If only it could be answered.

Like the " movie Titanic" we all know how this one is going to end. But don't let that stop you from watching Recount. Spacey, as always, delivers a believable and realistic performance. His presence somehow demands your attention. Laura Dern is completely transformed and becomes Kathleen Harris, the Florida Secretary of State. Her performance is by far the best.

There are details and personality involvements that even the most politically active person was probably not aware of that the production reveals, making it worth your time and attention. No matter how many hours you watched CNN when this historical drama unfolded, you will learn things about the Florida recount that you did not know.

If you are a history buff, you will want to add this to your collection. It is right up there with "Missiles of October."

You can count on anything Kevin Spacey does as great, but the big surprise in this movie was Laura Dern playing Katherine Harris. She was outstanding as the Florida Secretary of State.

The movie does a great job of showing what went on behind the scenes, including the strategies of both sides, that led to the final outcome. (I guess I don't need to worry about disclosing the ending.)

If you watch this movie and still think we live in a democratic country, you need to see it again.

"Recount" is a brilliant docu-drama using actors and lots of real television footage to encapsulate the 2000 election fiasco in which George W. Bush was given the Presidency by a 5 to 4 vote by the Supreme Court of the United States in an unprecedented intervention in a presidential election recount.
I was a resident of Florida during this fateful period in American history, and it was an embarrassing and enlightening moment for Florida voters.
Kevin Spacey does a superb acting job portraying the point man for the Gore recount in the Sunshine State. Ex-Secretary of State Jim Baker played smart hardball for the Republican cause while ex-Secretary of State Warren Christopher proved how gutless, prim, proper, and pitiful he was as Gore's first leader in the recount. Joe Lieberman, Gore's vice-presidential running mate, helped to undermine the Gore recount.
The deck was stacked against Gore by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris (with a devastating portrayal by Laura Dern) and by Governor Jeb Bush. They had laid the groundwork for a Republican victory. Gore nationwide won the popular vote by a half million votes, but in Florida there were improper vote counting, all kinds of screw-ups, poorly designed ballots, undercounting, and the disqualification of thousands who were turned away from the polls because their names were incorrectly placed on a felons' list.
Does this movie make a compelling case that an election was stolen? Yes. Is the movie biased in favor of the Gore faction? Yes. Should the Democrats have been more
aggressive and fought harder, earlier in the recount? Yes. Should Gore himself have gone to Florida and led the charge thus showing himself as gutsy and strong-willed enough to be President? Yes.
If the Supreme Court hadn't acted, the Florida Legislature, Republican controlled, was ready to declare Bush the winner. Talk about a stacked deck. I think the villains in this whole piece are the American people who stood idly by and by their apathy and lack of involvement proved that a person to be president has to have that "fire in the belly," but when the people in this democracy lack that "fire in the belly" to preserve the right for every vote to be counted, we are in real danger of losing our democracy.

HBO movie about the Florida voting recount in the 2000 presidential election. Especially hard to watch if you're a Democrat, it stirs up frustrations that you thought you had long buried and forgotten. Given the apparent dryness of the material, it's surprising how well this zips along, and with a good balance of comedy and drama. Special marks to Laura Dern for her incredible portrayal of Katherine Harris!

Powerful and surprisingly intense, this movie recalls the 2000 election fiasco. Everyone is perfectly cast, but no one is more right for the role than Kevin Spacey. If you only watch one political movie in your life - this should be that movie.

Outstanding performances by Kevin Spacey and Tom Wilkinson. The story of the 2000 presidential election vote count in the State of Florida with all the problems and resulting political maneuvers and legal battles makes for a compelling drama.

Ah, yes. November, 2000. Florida. Palm Beach County. Hanging chads. Jim Baker. Katherine Harris. Lawsuits. Noisy demonstrations. The Florida Supremes. The U.S. Supremes. More lawyers than ants at a picnic. A nation in suspended animation.

As Dickens would say, it was the best of times. . .it was the worst of times, and the HBO film RECOUNT brings it all back--from the tension and drama to actual CNN, FOX, and network news clips. The story is told mostly from the Democratic point of view, but why not? Their side ultimately lost (which subsequently meant the entire country lost), so isn't this perspective inherently more interesting? We get to meet Gore campaign operatives Ron Klain (Kevin Spacey is superb) and Michael Whouley (Denis Leary, whose expletive-laced description of Florida voting machines had me rolling on the floor), who experience endless frustration and setback after setback in their attempts to get all the votes counted. The Gore legal team is led by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher (John Hurt), who (according to the film) gives up his strategy of diplomacy and appeasement and makes way for the more aggressive Klain. I also got re-acquainted with Gore legal beagle David Boies (Ed Begley Jr.), who argued so eloquently before the U.S. Supreme Court.

On the Bush side, Tom Wilkinson is fantastic as feisty ex-Secretary of State Jim Baker; while Bob Balaban gives a most admirable performance as Bush campaign strategist Ben Ginsberg. But Laura Dern steals the entire show as Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris; from her Frankenstein makeup to her obvious cluelessness, this was one lady in way over her head.

RECOUNT brings back all the machinations and manipulations of the legal struggle for the Presidency of the United States, but it also gives us a very human component. For instance, at the end of the film, Baker gives Ginsberg a very moving anecdote about his switching political parties many years back. The human aspect adds to the drama and the intrigue, which makes reliving the 2000 election in RECOUNT a most rewarding experience.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning

We all know the outcome of the 2000 Presidential race so why would you want to watch this HBO made for TV movie? Like watching a movie about a sporting event or athlete where you know the end, it's about the game itself. This film is about the Florida recount in 2000 as seen mainly through the person of Ron Klain, Al Gore's former Chief of Staff who was dispatched to Florida to head up the Democratic team pursuing the recount. The acting is terrific and so is the writing. Since the event is so recent and all the players are still living, getting the story straight was important and it seems that they did. Even knowing the ending, this movie draws you in so that you almost forget what happened as you follow the events and drama within the inner circle of each party as they fight for Florida's 25 electoral votes and the Presidency. It's really a story about democracy and how it does and doesn't work, about our legal system and how it does and doesn't work and whether a Republic like ours can survive a crisis like that. Whether you think the system works, depends, of course, on what side you were on but our country did survive and I think some credit must be given to the parties involved, particularly Al Gore as the underdog, who could have gotten their supporters all riled up and created a very ugly situation. There were hardly any demonstrations by Democrats. Gore also called off the pursuit in the end when he could have continued to the further detriment of the country. It seems that there was a tangible case of 'Country First'. It is also a reminder that we still don't have this voting thing figured out in our country. We can put the proverbial man or woman on the moon but can't develop a consistent, reliable national voting system for national elections. Maybe there's a case for letting each state and precinct determine its own way, but in an election that affects every one of us, I'd like to think we were all playing by the same rules. This is another outstanding docudrama by HBO. Enjoy during this election year. Who knows, maybe it will be deja vu all over again. www.lusreviews.blogspot.com.

This movie is incredibly painful to watch. Anyone who lived through the 2000 election will remember what happened in broad strokes -- corruption, possible fraud, extreme partisanship and cronyism, and disenfranchisement on a scale that creates fond nostalgia for Jim Crow. However those broad strokes are here shown in rage-inducing, fully restored technicolor detail as every single step of a process that resulted in what some people still see as a stolen election is put on display.

Old wounds die hard, and even after 8 years and "A New Hope" on the horizon, it's impossible for any politically conscious person to watch this movie silently. Frustration boils over again and again at tactics from both sides of the aisle, and you may eventually have to put on a hat to prevent yourself from tearing every strand of your hair out. Even though we all know how this story ended, the movie is so well-written that it all feels fresh and current even now. Dramatically, that's a great thing. In all other respects though, it just makes your blood boil. In fact, I nearly gave the movie four stars until it occurred to me that what I had a problem with was the real events, not the movie. And in fact, only a great movie could make you think this critically about the real events on which it's based.

Danny Strong shockingly pulled off his first script to perfection, which is a coup for any young writer but particularly surprising for someone who is an actor perhaps best known as the geek from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." He brings to light the myriad ways in which a single decision, action or chance event could have changed history completely. There are so many occasions in this film when I felt like I was watching a horror movie, screaming for the hero to turn around, run away or stay out of the basement. The cast is what makes these 8-year-old bad choices seem so relevant again. Kevin Spacey, Dennis Leary and Tom Wilkinson are excellent. (So are Laura Dern and Bob Balaban, but I hated the characters/real people so much that it's difficult for me to get past that and give the actors the praise they're due.) Ed Begley Jr. is also quite good, though it's weird to see him in a straight dramatic role. After seeing him play so many hilarious parts in Christopher Guest's ensemble mockumentaries, I kept expecting him to turn to the camera and make a dry, hilariously off-hand remark.

The extras include two interviews with actual participants from each side of the fight conducted by the actors who played them, a short featurette on the movie and the location filming in Florida and a commentary with the writer and director. I haven't had a chance to listen to the commentary yet, but I'm hoping that since Danny Strong spent so much time interviewing the real participants, he'll have a lot more anecdotes and stories that simply couldn't be fit into the script. As for the interviews, I only wish they were longer.

Any student of political science will want to see this movie, and every American voter probably SHOULD see this movie. Some might say that there's nothing to be gained by dwelling on the past, but looking back at this all-too-recent period in modern history should be a wake-up call about the flaws in our system, both legal and political. Only when enough Americans truly wake up to this will we be able to make any real changes. Until that time, people like the ones depicted here --ALL OF WHOM ARE REAL, LIVING BREATHING PEOPLE AND **NOT** FICTIONAL CREATIONS -- will continue to manipulate the system to their own will, which will be that of whatever political party they happen to be aligned with and have nothing whatsoever to do with justice, fairness or morality.

The truth is, that fact alone should classify this as a horror movie. It's an extremely terrifying portrait of the potential future for this country.