Film Review: Recount

Director: Jay Roach

An HBO film released in 2008 direct to their own TV channel, the film follows the 2000 US Presidential election and specifically the battle for the state of Florida that took place for over a month after the polls closed. The film was seen as controversial by some for depicting the Democrats in a positive light whilst showing the Republicans as ruthless and unethical in their pursuit of victory.

In 2000, the presidential election was a tight affair between George W. Bush and Al Gore with many analysts saying that whomever wins Florida will take the election. With Florida being given to Bush by a margin of less than 2,000 votes, Gore phones Bush to concede but then retracts his concession after allegations of voting irregularities are raised in the state. From there a legal battle is fought by both sides over the recount of votes in certain county's within the state.

Michael Whouley (Denis Leary) and Ron Klain (Kevin Spacey)

Many critics felt the film was biased but in depicting such a controversial and hotly debated topic it's impossible for a film to be impartial, in many cases certain scenes that were seen as showing the Republicans in a bad light for one person was construed as something very different by somebody else. In reality it shows that both were willing to do whatever it takes to get their man elected even if it wasn't strictly ethical. The over-riding theme is that the Republicans were very strong willed and organised while the Democrats were too worried about PR in the beginning and we're too self centered in thinking of their own careers (Joe Lieberman for example).

The acting in the film is incredibly sharp, especially from the likes of Kevin Spacey, Tom Wilkinson and Laura Dern. Both Spacey and Wilkinson play the incredibly driven leaders of each parties battle in Florida as they both look at ways of getting exactly what they want, from lawsuits to delaying the voting re-count. In the end, despite everything there is a begrudging respect displayed in one of the final scenes. It's a drama thats hard to look away from despite us all already knowing the result, I think as the film develops it almost scares you to remember that this actually happened and was the deciding factor in a US presidential election despite being an absolute farce.

3.5/4 Engrossing and beautifully pitched political drama