Dimpled Chads may not sound like good fodder for a movie, but HBO's Recont is much better than you might expect. Here's my review. By Dave Shiflett (Bloomberg)— The GOP probably won’t like HBO’s portrayal of how GWB won FLA. “Recount,” which airs Sunday night at 9 p.m. New York time, takes us back to the 36-day political and legal slugfest over re-tallying the 2000 Florida vote, which was finally settled by the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of George W. Bush. Bush might have won that war but he and his cronies come across as world-class goons and loons in this two-hour film. The story focuses on attempts by the Democratic candidate Al Gore’s team, lead by former chief of staff Ron Klain (Kevin Spacey), to get a vote recount. Klain starts out as a kitten but evolves into a tiger. He has no choice. He’s up against the Republican attack machine, led by Bush family pal James Baker III, played by Tom Wilkinson, recently seen as a slightly scheming Benjamin Franklin in HBO’s “John Adams.” Baker is Franklin to the tenth degree: a cocky and aggressive political operator hell-bound to win. He’s assisted by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, (Laura Dern), a ditzy witch with messianic delusions. “Ten years ago I was teaching the chicken dance to seniors,” she cackles, and now the “eyes of the world have landed on me.” Her worst inclinations are stoked by GOP lobbyist Mac “Mac the Knife” Stipanovich (Bruce McGill), a thoroughbred political reptile. “You’re about to pick the leader of the free world,” he counsels the bony-faced, big-haired Harris. “You need to bring this election in for a landing” with “George W. Bush in the cockpit.” Republicans are either dragons or drones. Lead Counsel Ben Ginsberg (Bob Balaban) peps his prim troops by promising “By tomorrow morning the stains of Bill Clinton will be washed away. Honor and dignity will finally be restored to the White House.” The young Republicans applaud vigorously, as if their trust funds had just doubled in value. The Democrats, by contrast, are simply trying to make every vote count. Warren Christopher (John Hurt), is given to majestic platitudes such as “There is no shame in placing country above party.” Attorney David Boies (Ed Begley Jr.) earnestly argues that voter “intent” is clearly present in those dimpled chads. The edgiest Dem is chief strategist Michael Whouley (Denis Leary), a street-fighter who gets off his best line at Christopher’s expense: He “probably eats his M&Ms with a knife and fork.” The Good v. Evil nature of the film does keep it interesting, not a given for a movie whose plot hinges on dimpled chads, butterfly ballots, and legal wrangling. The film includes contemporary news footage with some old faces: CNNS’s Bernard Shaw and Daryn Kagan, the late Peter Jennings, and Dan Rather delivering signature lines as the crisis deepens: “Call a doctor, call the police, call a psychic.” There’s also Joe Lieberman, then a Democrat (and candidate for vice president) and Katie Couric, then with lots of viewers. Gore and Bush are rarely seen or heard from, though there is a replay of the famous conversation when Gore called Bush back to say he was not, after all, conceding the election. After Bush freaks, Gore responds, “Excuse me, but you don’t have to get snippy about it.” In the end, however, Gore is forced to call Klain with the bad news: “I have to end this war when I know I can’t win. Even if I win I can’t win.” Baker does go somewhat human near the end while explaining why he switched parties at age 40. His wife had died of cancer, he tells Ginsberg, and a Republican badgered him into participating in a campaign because he didn’t want to see Baker “so sad all” the time. That Republican, he says, was George Herbert Walker Bush. He also assures his victorious troops that they’ve been on the side of the angels. “The system worked,” he says, noting this was an “orderly transfer” of power was accomplished with “no tanks on the streets.” One can’t help but think of things to come. Dave Shiflett is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.
