Recount (2008)

What a waste of my time!!!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

"Recount" takes us back to the 2000 controversial presidential election (Gore vs. Bush) with the numbers problem in Florida, something that hold the election results for a brief yet suffocating period with both Republican and Democrat parties fighting for the presidency. The main characters here are the personnel representing both candidates, the Democrat team led by Ron Klain (Kevin Spacey) supporting Al Gore, and claiming for the votes recount after a gigantic difference between what TV was showing and the numbers his staff got with another source; and the Republican are led by former Secretary of State James Baker (Tom Wilkinson) who are opposed to the recount and want the result of Bush's victory to be maintained. And there's Katherine Harris (Laura Dern) holding a kind of power she shouldn't really hold.We all know what happened, Bush won, there's no surprise in that scenario but the movie never at any moment failed to make us admired of all the events behind one of the most dramatic political decisions to ever take place. There's tension, there's conflict and there's excitement. Everything's here: the numbers, the problem with the chad's, the poorest people that weren't allowed to vote, the many stances of recounting the votes, procedure problems, the Supreme Court's decision, it's all here! Don't be fooled just because you already know what's going to happen, there's so many great things and it's so thrilling to see what happened that for one moment you can pretend you don't have a clue of what's to come.This is directed by Jay Roach, known primarily for his Austin Powers flicks, and it's quite a surprise to see his name associated with this serious theme and more than that, he didn't failed. He doesn't get intimidated by the stellar cast (other directors would be) and impress us by making us follow, for the most part, the cause that will be lost, the team that is not gonna win. Promising and winning strategies that failed but with plenty of lessons learned. His most recent achievement "Game Change" (again with HBO) follows closely the McCain/Palin campaign and the whole triumphant scheme behind another important election that turned out to be lost by the Republican. To the audience that sees as this being a boring film, here comes another serious political movie deep down in its gray and uninteresting areas, well, you're wrong. "Recount" can be and it is hilariously funny, warm, easy to follow, only problematic to viewers from nations whose election system works differently than the one current in U.S. (no matter how many times someone explain it to me, I'll never get it. I would love to make this part longer comparing to how do we vote here but it's better not to). To the viewers outside of America, I insist you to watch it despite all the problems you might have, there's rewarding moments of wisdom in the movie (Baker's speech on how he changed of political party after his wife's death is one of those great moments on film that are rarely made these days).As for the acting, this has some of the greatest ever filmed. Denis Leary, Bob Balaban, John Hurt, Adam LeFrevre, Marc Macaulay, Bruce McGill, Bruce Altman, Ed Begley Jr. and others are part of the great ensemble cast that composed both teams of "Recount". However, the three outstanding performers are Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern and Tom Wilkinson. Spacey is the magnet that makes everyone involved with such deep story, he's the one for whom we cheer (even if he's playing against the party you're support you're gonna like this man); Dern makes something really impressive with the character she plays, it's part characterization, part mockery but it's not something scandalous. It's funny in the right measure, very different from a comical sketch because there's emotional, insightful lines. Wilkinson isn't the one you root for but it's certainly the one from who you get the best lessons, the best way to overcome things, a wise character.Smart, humored, critical about the political process and its machine, true to the facts, "Recount" manages something almost impossible: to present surprises when they seemed completely inexistent or hard to find. For that and more it's a must-see film, that's a fact. 10/10

I just saw this movie, and then read a couple of the user reviews here on IMDb. I particularly enjoyed the comments from angry Republicans saying that this film is biased. Yes, it is. But then again, anyone who has more than a hundred working brain cells should be biased towards the Democratic stand points, on virtually EVERY political issue. Not being an American, I can honestly say that we (that is: the rest of the world) follow the American elections with astonishment. The mud slinging, the candidates that blunder ("If I become president, there are three departments I want to cancel, one is A, another is B, and the third is....eh...eh...Oops"), etc. Usually, American citizens will consider Republican presidents as good, while the whole world has way more appreciation for the Democratic ones (i.e. Jimmy Carter and his Camp David agreements between Begin and Sadat). So I know about the mess that was the 2000 presidential election. But this film just reminded me of how big of a screw-up it really was. And to top it off, the U.S. supreme court just appoints the guy that belongs to the same party as the majority of its judges. It is done that way in what everyone considers "outlaw states" like Birma. You'd think that the highest judicial body in the country would base its judgment on something like, oh, I don't know...LEGAL considerations... I think it's safe to say that 911 would NOT have happened if Al Gore had been president at the time, because every time a Democrat is in office, the U.S. attitude towards the rest of the world seems just a little more considerate than under a Republican. If I had not known this movie was a depiction of a true story, I would have called the story far-fetched and incredible. But these things really did happen, and clearly demonstrate the bankruptcy of the American democracy. Politics in the U.S.A. is about as low as mankind can sink.

My local library has done it again. Placed on it's shelf another really great movie I've never heard of. Pretty easy pick when I saw it was about the 2000 Presidential election. Like most i was watching that November night when all measure of political insanity broke out. I was videotaping that night and now (even though Gore "lost"),I wish I'd saved that tape.Most of us out there know the storyline and has been covered here. I can commend the creators very highly on this for bringing a very detailed & as truthful as possible telling of all that went wrong. A lot of what went wrong existed before the election even began.The cast here plays each singular role in a manner that makes you feel you are watching exactly what these people felt at that time. They never makes the person their portraying into a 2 dimensional cartoon. Some here feel the movie is leaning in favor of the Democrats as the good guys & the GOP the bad. What I saw was that Gore's supporters wanted to play fair as possible and the GOP well,they didn't. I'm not trying to say "all" republicans are like that but given what happened that night and up until Nov. 2008,no one should be surprised at how they are depicted here. I still feel the storytelling was as fair as possible to both parties and former candidatesI honestly did feel the sense of loss all over again,when (on the phone) Gore tells Kevin Spacey "I can't win." "Even if I win,I lose". The end of the film is an unfortunate reminder of what was to come next for the U.S. , but if you haven't seen this,I wont give it away. I will say there have been good made for TV movies but for some reason,HBO seems to make better ones. 10 stars,count 'em 10. {END}

Surprisingly entertaining but ultimately not very topical anymore (the two sides have stayed pretty much unchanged since the 2000 Presidential election debacle in Florida), RECOUNT is engaging thanks to the powerful performances of some high-caliber actors.Kevin Spacey (SUPERMAN RETURNS) leads the way as attorney Ron Klain. Pulled into the legal quagmire of Al Gore's attempt to get a recount done in Florida after several irregularities popped up, Spacey is easy to watch and makes the viewer feel at home with the character/man.By his side is the foul-mouthed but implacable Michael Whooley (Dennis Leary, ICE AGE 2) who fights tooth-and-nail to try and get the recount started, too, but is hamstrung by idiots within the Democratic Party and a surprise ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court (did you know that they basically elected George Bush?). Tom Wilkinson (THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE) hits the other side of the tables (i.e., the Republicans) as James Baker. Crafty and wise, Baker gets ahead of the game and wins for his side thanks to some unique legal maneuvers.I would be remiss, however, if I didn't give some serious kudos to Laura Dern who played the role of Katherine Harris, the former Secretary of State of Florida. Winning a surprising Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actress in a made-for-TV film, Dern's Harris was absolutely flawless. Her self-absorbed persona mixed with her powerful position made me shiver, which was exactly what I should've been doing.The sad part is that with a few more dollars I think this film could've been upgraded from 'made-for-TV' and had a decent showing at cinemas. But we have what we have. It's an interesting run at a nine-year-old subject, and it still eats at me, but it didn't deliver anything I didn't already know ...and loathe.