Recount (2008)

Directed by Jay Roach. Starring Kevin Spacey, Tom Wilkinson, Denis Leary, Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, Ed Begley Jr., John Hurt, Bruce McGill, Bruce Altman, Paul Jeans, Gary Basaraba, Doug Williford, Alex Staggs, Mitch Pileggi.

Dramatization of the vote recount in Florida during the aftermath of the down-to-the-wire 2000 presidential race between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Scribe Danny Strong and director Jay Roach do a capable job of bringing clarity to the murky legal and political waters that held the country hostage for weeks at the close of the 20th century, and the cast delivers on expectations without grandstanding—the closest anyone comes to showboat work is Dern as Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, but the real-life Harris was such a “political cartoon come to life”, it was the only reasonable way to play the part. However, it’s frustrating to “rewatch” this divisive chapter in American political history play out. Not so much because of reliving the same sour resolution, but because there’s so little fresh insight into the process, the players, and the malfeasance at hand; those who did not follow the developments on the news back in 2000 are likely to get more out of it than I did. Debuted on HBO during another contentious election year, and Roach would go on to helm a different based-in-truth political drama for the channel with Game Change, which is centered on that very race.

66/100