Recount: The Story Of The 2000 Presidential Election [DVD]

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The 2000 Presidential election was a nightmare, especially for us South Floridians. Palm Beach County was held up to the rest of the nation as some sort of black hole of ineptitude, local TV and AM radio stations saturated the airwaves with the tiniest detail of recount news while sun-starved talking heads flocked here en masse during the first month of tourist season, as if their very presence would expedite vote counts or assure the totals' validity.Mistakes were made not just in So. Fla. but statewide, and more importantly by those political operatives of both parties who tried as best they could to influence counting procedures, ballot invalidations, and the general "spin" of seemingly minute-by-minute developments.A motion picture about this historic election could potentially be a total bore or a chance for still disgruntled Dems to exact a bit of payback. RECOUNT is neither of these. With one exception, those 36 days of uncertainty and turmoil are presented in a fashion as fair to both sides as possible. Partisans of either candidate will not feel sleighted or that their position has been skewed or distorted.The handling of Florida State Attorney General Katherine Harris, as ably portrayed by Laura Dern, is another matter entirely. Ms. Harris is this story's scapegoat; depicted as a twinky, an airhead and a delusional fool who believes she is Biblical Queen Esther come to save the day. It's a distasteful characterization that borders on misogynistic.That issue aside, RECOUNT plays out like a thriller, thanks to a top notch cast and script, and a true story that's better than fiction. If you're a political animal of any persuasion and/or are interested in recent American history, you'll surely find this to be a fascinating biopic.Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.(7.6) Recount (2008) - Kevin Spacey/Bob Balaban/Ed Begley Jr./Laura Dern/John Hurt/Denis Leary/Bruce McGill/Tom Wilkinson/Mitch Pileggi/William Schallert

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. [...]