Recount (film)

''Recount'' is a 2008 American political drama television film about Florida's vote recount during the 2000 United States presidential election. Directed by Jay Roach and written by Danny Strong, the film stars Kevin Spacey, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley Jr., Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, Bruce McGill, and Tom Wilkinson. It premiered on HBO on May 25, 2008. The film was nominated for 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning 3 for Outstanding Television Movie, Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or Movie (Roach), and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie (Baumgarten). It was also nominated for 5 Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (for Dern).

Plot

''Recount'' chronicles the 2000 U.S. presidential election, '' Bush v. Gore'' case between Governor of Texas George W. Bush and U.S. Vice President Al Gore. It begins with the election on November 7 and ends with the Supreme Court ruling, which stopped the Florida election recount on December 12.

Key points depicted include: Gore's retraction of his personal telephone concession to Bush in the early hours of November 8; the decision by the Gore campaign to sue for hand recounts in Democratic strongholds where voting irregularities were alleged, especially in light of the statistical dead heat revealed by the reported machine recount; Republican pressure on Florida's Secretary of State Katherine Harris in light of her legally mandated responsibilities; the attention focused on the hand recounts by media, parties, and the public; the two major announcements by Florida Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters extending the deadline for returns in the initial recount (November 21, 2000) and ordering a statewide recount of votes (December 8, 2000), and later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court; and finally the adversarial postures of the Supreme Courts of Florida and the United States, as well as the dissenting opinions among the higher court's justices.

Cast

* Kevin Spacey as Ron Klain
* John Hurt as Warren Christopher
* Laura Dern as Katherine Harris
* Tom Wilkinson as James Baker
* Denis Leary as Michael Whouley
* Ed Begley Jr. as David Boies
* Bob Balaban as Ben Ginsberg
* Bruce McGill as Mac Stipanovich
* Paul Jeans as Ted Olson
* Bruce Altman as Mitchell Berger
* Alex Staggs as Craig Waters
* Doug Williford as Mark Fabiani
* Gary Basaraba as Clay Roberts
* Stefen Laurantz as Joe Allbaugh
* Mitch Pileggi as Bill Daley
* Jayne Atkinson as Theresa LePore
* Marcia Jean Kurtz as Carol Roberts
* Mary Bonner Baker as Kerey Carpenter
* Bob Kranz as Bob Butterworth
* Raymond Forchion as Jeff Robinson
* Steve DuMouchel as John Hardin Young
* Marc Macaulay as Robert Zoellick
* Antoni Corone as Tom Feeney
* Matt Miller as Jeb Bush
* Terry Loughlin as William Rehnquist
* Judy Clayton as Sandra Day O'Connor
* William Schallert as John Paul Stevens
* Bruce Gray as Anthony Kennedy
* Michael Bryan French as David Souter
* Howard Elfman as Stephen Breyer
* Jack Shearer as Antonin Scalia
* Benjamin Clayton as Clarence Thomas
* Bradford DeVine as Charles T. Wells
* Candice Critchfield as Judge Myriam Lehr
* Annie Cerillo as Barbara Pariente
* Brewier Welch as Harry Lee Anstead
* Derek Cecil as Jeremy Bash
* Robert Small as George J. Terwilliger III
* Patricia Getty as Margaret D. Tutwiler
* Christopher Schmidt as John E. Sweeney
* Olgia Campbell as Donna Brazile
* James Carrey as Chris Lehane
* Brent Mendenhall as George W. Bush
* Grady Couch as Al Gore
* David Lodge as Joe Lieberman
* Carole Wood as Tipper Gore
* Mark Lamoureux as Reporter
* Tom Hillmann as Brad Blakeman
* Adam LeFevre as Mark Herron

Production

Director

In April 2007, it was announced that Sydney Pollack would direct the film. By August, weeks away from the start of principal photography, Pollack withdrew from the project due to a then-undisclosed illness, and was replaced by Jay Roach. Pollack died of cancer on May 26, 2008, one day after ''Recount'' premiered on HBO.

Casting

On September 24, 2007, it was announced that Kevin Spacey would star as Ron Klain.

Filming

''Recount'' was shot in Jacksonville and Tallahassee, Florida.

Reception

Reviews

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 78%, based on 18 reviews, and an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Recount'' deftly brings a controversial chapter of electoral history to dramatic life with a compelling cast, although some viewers may take issue with its conclusions." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Mark Moorman of '' Het Parool'', gave the film a rating of four stars on a scale of five, calling ''Recount'' an "amazing and funny reconstruction".

Response to fictionalization

Some critics have made charges of bias against the film. ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote, "''Recount'' may not be downright blue, but it's not as purply as it wants to appear. Despite its equal time approach, ''Recount'' is an underdog story, and thus a Democrat story." Film critic Roger Ebert disputed claims of bias in his review of the film, stating, "You might assume the movie is pro-Gore and anti-Bush, but you would not be quite right."

In an interview with CNN's ''Reliable Sources'', director Jay Roach responded that the film, "wasn't 100 percent accurate, but it was very true to what went on. ... That's what dramatizations do: stitch together the big ideas with, sometimes, constructs that have to stand for a larger truth." Roach cited '' All the President's Men'' as an example. Jake Tapper, an ABC newscaster who was a consultant for the film also stated in response that the film is "a fictional version of what happened" and "tilts to the left because it's generally told from the point of view of the Democrats." ''The Washington Post'' further stated that Tapper noted that "while some scenes and language are manufactured, 'a lot of dialogue is not invented, a lot of dialogue is taken from my book, other books and real life.' "

Florida Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters agreed that the script departed from the actual statements he made on live television from the courthouse steps in the fall of 2000. "But the words spoken by the actor who played me lex Staggs" Waters said, "are accurate paraphrasis of the things I actually said or of the documents released by the court at the time."

Warren Christopher, who was sent by Gore to supervise the recount, has objected to his portrayal in the film. According to the ''San Jose Mercury News'', Christopher: Baker agreed that the film exaggerated his rival's stance: "He's not that much of a wuss," said Matea Gold of the ''San Jose Mercury News''.

Democratic strategist Michael Whouley has objected to the amount of swearing he does in the film, and was also uncomfortable with a scene involving a broken chair.

In contrast, Bush legal advisers James Baker and Benjamin Ginsberg have largely given the film good reviews; Baker even hosted his own screening of it, though he does refer to the film as a " Hollywood rendition" of what happened.

Awards and nominations

Gallery

Image:Craig Waters During the 2000 Election Appeals.jpg, Craig Waters talks with reporters before oral arguments, December 7, 2000
Image:Alex Staggs Portraying Craig Waters 2007.jpg, Alex Staggs as Craig Waters during filming on location for the HBO movie ''Recount'', November 3, 2007
Image: Actual Arguments Before the Florida Supreme Court 7 December 2000.jpg, The actual Florida Supreme Court listens to December 7, 2000, arguments
Image: HBO Reinactment of Arguments Before the Florida Supreme Court 7 December 2000.jpg , HBO reenacts the December 7 argument during filming, November 4, 2007

References

External links

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{{United states presidential election and recount, 2000

2008 television films
2008 films
2008 drama films
2008 in American television
2000 United States presidential election in Florida
2000s American films
2000s English-language films
2000s political drama films
American drama television films
American films based on actual events
American political drama films
English-language political drama films
Films about the 2000 United States presidential election
Films directed by Jay Roach
Films scored by Dave Grusin
Films shot in Jacksonville, Florida
Films with screenplays by Danny Strong
HBO Films films
Political drama films based on actual events
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie winners
Television films based on actual events