Recount (2008)A fairly gripping political drama, well acted, and of course with historic filling. I realized just as the credits ran, however, that what had me going throughout was the events, the history, the reliving of a time that seemed to intense an unjust (or at least dubiously just). It wasn't the movie that drove the event, but the other way around.And so it is with this kind of re-enactment of a big event. However, there is a sudden letdown after all. I mean, after all, what else is there? Knowing what happened and visualizing it anew isn't quite great cinema. Even though this is a great telling of those facts. Which is how you come to appreciate and judge it by the end. And it's not enough.I watched it with someone who didn't live in the U.S. at the time, and had little information about the contested Gore v. Bush election battles. And without me explaining certain events it hovered as an abstract comment on the insider problems of election process. That sounds pretty dull, doesn't it? (She was asleep by the end, and I was not, which says something, but not everything.) Because in fact the contents are pretty dull stuff.Which makes the movie more remarkable, I suppose—it makes exciting what is a legal maneuvering, office room discussion, telephone call kind of movie. The fact it ever happened is no surprising, given the other options in other countries. But the details are astounding, and those details—from the people cheering when the votes won't get counted to the concession, finally, by the loser—are all telling. About the system, about human nature.And about rising above to find our better natures. Some of us, some of the time.

Who would of thought of that elections can bring so much of suspension and fun. And wow Kevin Spacey, oh boy do I like to watch him act.Well what can we say about this film and events surrounding elections of 2000? I wonder did everyone involved thought that things they were doing in late 2000 will come back to the in the fall of 2001? I doubt that anybody really knew how much world was REALLY watching, and training flying without take off and landing. Hm. Makes one think, doesn*t it? It was always interested why people in the USA vote Republican? I would never do that. If I understood well George W. Bush ushered era which was unthinkable in its cruelty to most Americans. I think it would be easier to vote Democrat in the future. Democratic Presidents are so much more fun and cute :) Makes you wish give them a blow job :) Another smiley, Kevin Spacey type :))))))

"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 am a liberal and thought this would be a good movie to support my views on what I believe happened in the 2000 election.I got 15 minutes into the movie to the point where they flash the news organizations calling the election and there was no mention of Faux news, I watched for a couple more minutes and shut it off.To make a movie about the 2000 election and not put Faux news front and center when they are the ones who anointed bush the winner that night is a gross injustice, an injustice enough for me to turn off the movie and anger me enough to write this.In 1988 I went to the dollar movies and seen Salsa and I thought it was the worst film ever made but I would rather watch it again than watch this garbage.Oran