Review: Recount

2008/R/Drama

Recount is the dramatization (based on actual events) of the fight for Florida during the 2000 Presidential Election between Bush and Gore. **Spoiler Alert** Al Gore looses. This movie, produced by HBOFilms, stars Kevin Spacey, Dennis Leary, Ed Begly Jr., Tom Wilkinson, and Mitch Pileggi. If the mere fact that this movie was made didn't communicate it, the fact that it's HBOFilms starring these people made it more than apparent prior to viewing that this movie would lean left.

Recount was everything I thought it would be an nothing I'd hoped it would be. Lean left? Yeah, if you can call a boat that's capsized "leaning." While I expected a bias, the extent to which the filmmakers went was surprising. What I found was had the bias been less exaggerated, I might have been more receptive to some of their talking points.

How bad was the bias? I'll list just a few comparisons in regards to how the portrayed the competing sides:

The Candidates:
While neither Senator Gore nor Governor Bush was fully portrayed, they were represented throughout the movie. Gore was in charge of the legal proceedings that his team of lawyers was pursuing. He was compassionate, concerned with the American people and his image. Bush was absent. His team was run by the head lawyer. Gore's people were on the phone to him repeatedly. No one ever checked with Bush regarding the actions they were taking. The only time we heard Bush was when he was snooty to Gore on the phone. We hear Gore several times leading and directing his troops.

The Lawyers:
There are several ways the director and writers chose to expose their bias through these characters. There is a very telling scene that bounces between the two camps as the set their strategy when it first appeared that Florida was going to become a post-election battleground. The Democrats would say something that sounded gentle and altruistic. They'd follow it up with a comment about something they certainly couldn't do on moral or ethical grounds. Cut to: The Republican lawyers proclaiming they needed to do the exact verbatim thing the liberal lawyers just said they could never do. This was done not once, not even twice, at least three times throughout the course of the movie. While it garnered a laugh, even from me, it moved this piece from fictional retelling to melodrama.

The Design:
I debated which heading to use for this section. "Design" encompasses lighting, costumes, and set. The lawyers for the two sides were purposefully portrayed as polar opposites. The democrats were in business casual: respectable yet approachable. The republicans were in business suits: stuffy, stodgy, rich. Gore's team was headquartered in a comfortable, brightly lit, campaign-style storefront filled with big windows, folding chairs, campaign signs, and folding tables. The Bush team was in a dark, enclosed conference room filled with heavy law books, heavy curtains, and a big heavy table. The Liberals were lit warmly, attractively, comfortably with key lights and fill lights. The conservatives were consistently back lit with a single harsh cold light.

There was a moment when they almost made the Republicans appear to be human. However, when juxtaposed with some of the things the Democrats said, even that was slanted. A fellow lawyer asked the Chief Republican attorney why he switched parties, as he was once a Democrat. The man replied that at a difficult time in his life, a politician was very kind and understanding: G. Bush I. "Oh, how sweet." Right? Consider this: Following their loss, a few of the Democrats were saying that they didn't even like Al Gore. What am I getting at? The Democrats are doing what they are doing because the believe in the party and it's platforms. The only reason the lawyer was a Republican was due to friendship. No intelligent person would ever be a Republican based on the party platforms (unless you are rich.) Even in their "pet the dog*" moment, they still bashed the right.

In the end, some of the Democrats are sitting around opining that hopefully, the right man was in office, even if it wasn't their guy. While they are discussing this little hints are being dropped: Brown appointed as FEMA chair on a newspaper, Iraq mentioned in a broadcast. They don't go so far as to drop any foreshadowing of 9/11, but their feelings on the overall situation is clear (as though we needed to be reminded how the makers of the movie truly felt...)

We all remember the questions surrounding the Florida election of 2000. In my extensive studies on the counts and recounts I still cannot say for certain who won the state. The filmmakers certainly had a very compelling story with valid points on both sides. The fact that they couldn't simply tell the story and felt they need to spin it (more than spin it: catapult it) to the left negated any points either side had. Basically, the inability of the writers, director, and producers to suppress their own political viewpoints made this movie a waste of time.

The message of the movie is unmistakable. So, even though it was completely counter productive, they were successful in communicating their purpose. They get a half star for that. The acting, constrained as it was by the script and overall bias, was fairly decent. One star for that.

Overall 1.5 out of 5 stars.

* A "pet the dog" moment is when you have your stereotypical villain pet a dog, or do something else humane, to show that he isn't all evil. A good example of this would be when Nicholas Cage's character cares for his brother in Face/Off. This ability to care shows he's somewhat human.