Watched: Recount
This was equal parts gripping and infuriating - it dramatises the Florida recount (or lack thereof) during the 2000 election of George W. Bush, and all of the horrors and injustices that befell the Democratic party, and is exactly the sort of film that makes me nervous about moving to the US; although the political point of the film is definitely on the side of the Democrats (specifically Ron Klain, who worked on the Gore campaign and is played here by Kevin Spacey, who looks nothing like the man), history shows intellectual bankruptcy and sly dishonesty as the victors.
For all that, though, it’s a fantastic film; Spacey is as compelling as ever, but he’s backed up by a stellar supporting cast; it should probably be noted that this film convinced me to like Denis Leary, which I did not think was possible. Also present are Laura Dern as the deplorable Katherine Harris, John Hurt as Warren Christopher, and a host of other fantastic actors that fit the HBO mould of being very good at what they do without being aggressively in the public eye (there are no Pitts or DiCaprios here).
It’s also paced fantastically, turning a series of legal hurdles into a nail-biting thriller. It’s testament to the vision of Jay Roach and Danny Strong that this never feels boring, and always portrays the recount as a battle waiting to be won, rather than the loss it later became. This feels free of retrospective, which is impressive for a film released in as much of a turbulent political climate (2008) as the 2000 election cycle.
I was going to say this isn’t for people with zero interest in politics, but it’s possible that this might just make the disinterested pay attention. It also gets you thinking what the world would look like had Al Gore taken the presidency. I wonder how many awful alternative histories have already been written to that effect.