by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
“Every vote counts” is the overriding theme (and repeatedly stated mantra) of the new original HBO movie Recount, a film that explores the details surrounding the 2000 Bush/Gore election debacle in Florida.
“Although not Florida’s proudest moment,” said Mayor Peyton during the introduction of the Jacksonville premiere of the film at our own Florida Theatre, “we were glad they chose Jacksonville to film the movie.”
Indeed the premiere was a little slice of Hollywood in the River City, which is the perfect introduction to the “Rolling out the Red” theme of the sixth annual Jacksonville Film Festival, which kicked off in the same place the following night with the presentation of the film Crazy. In the audience were Recount’s director, Jay Roach (director of Meet the Parents and Austin Powers and producer of Borat, Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Charlie Bartlett), writer Danny Strong, Producer Michael Hausman (Brokeback Mountain, Gangs of New York, Man on the Moon) and several of the film’s stars, although Kevin Spacey, Denis Leary and Laura Dern were not in the house for the screening. Laura Dern was busy arguing about the “happy ending” of the film with Stephen Colbert the day of the screening.
Most people, especially Floridians, feel that they are pretty aware of what went on that election year, but in fact you’d be surprised how much there is to learn. Kevin Spacey plays Ron Klain, a primary on Gore’s campaign team and someone that is struggling to keep faith in both the democratic process and in his candidate, although he and the Vice President had a shaky history. Klain’s objective is simply to attempt to get all of the Florida votes counted before the country’s patience wears out.
Character actor Tom Wilkinson turns in a good performance as Secretary of State James Baker, who is doing everything he can to exacerbate the situation on behalf of the Bush campaign. Ed Begley, Jr. executed a quirky performance as attorney David Boeis and was easily one of the standout dramatic characters of the film.
Laura Dern delivered the comedy of this film in the real-life caricature of Katherine Harris. From her preposterous makeup to her vacant and exaggerated smile, Florida’s Secretary of State is the sort of comic relief that a film such as this needs. It also helps to relay what side of the story the makers of this film are on. Other than her role and the fact that it is told from Ron Klain’s point of view, the film does a decent job of side-stepping political hot-button topics and remains focused on letting the viewer in on the behind-the-scenes reality of what was backwards about the Florida ballot system in 2000 and how politics can interfere with an honest process.
A dimpled chad was such a laugh factory during the debacle, but in Recount you get an understanding of why the intent of the voter is important and some of the reasons that ballots weren’t penetrated thoroughly in underprivileged voting districts. It wasn’t presented as insidious, but rather it made sense. It also contributed to this particular election and the terrible travesty it became. This take also shows, without ever stating that Gore was in the lead, how many votes were never counted and how inadequate the involvement of the people were in the process.
Although watching this political thriller on an enormous screen at the Florida Theatre was a little bizarre, as it plays much like a small screen drama akin to Law & Order, it was star-studded, well-written, and bore a great deal of significant performances and important information. Recount is certainly worth watching, no matter which side of the political fence you are on. Democrats will lament their chance to have had a smart, environmentally aware president. Republicans will feel scorned by the portrayal, but certainly no one is in the dark about the treacherous game of politics, and never was that treachery more clear than in the 2000 election (Watergate excepted).
Recount was filmed in Jacksonville and you’ll recognize a great deal of the locations when watching the film. From protests in front of the Prime Osborn to scenes inside of our court house. It was amazing how much Palm Beach resembled the Seawalk Pavilion! Catch the familiar scenery for yourself on the small screen when Recount airs on HBO on May 25, 2008.
Article Published in the May 2008 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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