Bob Balaban, Bruce Altman, Denis Leary

A chronicle of the weeks after the 2000 U.S. presidential election and the subsequent recounts in Florida.

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82% liked it

2,743 ratings

Unrated, 115 min.

Directed by: Jay Roach

Release Date: May 25, 2008

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DVD Release Date: August 19, 2008

Stats: 671 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (671)


  • September 10, 2008
    Ron Klain: How hard is it to punch a paper ballot?
    Michael Whouley: It?s pretty God damn hard when you're eighty something years old, you're arthritic, and you're blind as a fucking bat. Unfortunately for us, blind fucking bats tend to vote Democratic.

    Kevin Spacey leads an all...( read more) star cast of character actors in a movie produced by HBO, chronicling the weeks after the 2000 US presidential election and the drama involving the Florida recount.

    Ron Klain: The plural of "chad" is "chad"?

    Along with Spacey, Dennis Leary, Tom Wilkinson, John Hurt, Ed Begeley Jr., and Laura Dern all portray various figures on either political party who had to deal with the attempts to get an official recount and legal action for the improperly handled votes down in Florida.

    While there are certainly elements enhanced for the sake of drama, the film remains very accurate and true to the incidents that occurred. The film also manages to be very engaging. It is a film about men arguing over pieces of paper, but I was enjoying it very much.

    It is also helpful that the movie doesn't take a stern side against Bush in favor of Gore. While the movie certainly presents the way the situation occurred for the most part, the people involved on both sides are treated with respect.

    Originally to be directed by Sydney Pollack, before eventually becoming to ill, Jay Roach, best known for directing the Austin Powers series as well as the Meet the Parents movies, does a very good job with the handling of this political drama that maintained my interest.

    Ron Klain: You know what I wanna know?
    Michael Whouley: Nope.
    Ron Klain: I wanna know who won this fucking election. Who the fuck won?
  • August 22, 2008
    A decent movie about the complete and total catastrofuck also known as the 2000 Florida election. Or The Beginning of the End if you prefer. Recount is full of great performances as well as creepy as fuck performances--namely anyone who played a Republican (i.e. Laura Dern and To...( read more)m Wilkinson.) This movie is every bit as sad as Edward Scissorhands and Doctor Zhivago but just as anger-inducing as anything with Michael Moore's name on it.
  • June 13, 2008
    I went into this knowing full well it wasn't my kind of film. Not only does this genre of movie tend to be completely biased, but character development is always sacrificed for a never ending population of newly introduced characters whose entire purpose is to argue relentlessly....( read more) Well, "Recount" does fit both of my initial concerns quite well... however, I was surprised at how enjoyable it was all things considered.

    The film premiered on HBO last month, but it definitely doesn't scream "low-budget, made-for-TV" movie at you. The stars are here in full force from Kevin Spacey to last year's Academy Award Nominee Tom Wilkinson. Director Jay Roach, known more for films like "Austin Powers" or "Meet the Parents" shows he is completely competent engaging in more serious subject matter. The film is tight, polished, and ultimately completely realized in every conceivable way. But again, I think everything was so tightly knit that in the end you just couldn't care about anyone involved.

    The film is told primarily from a democratic point of view, lead by Kevin Spacey's Ron Klain. I don't know if the directors full intention was to present the democrats as heroes who were robbed of a victory and the republicans as stubborn buffoons, but at times it certainly felt that way. The one Republican with an odd sort of appeal is Laura Dern's Katherine Harris... she's completely clueless, and in way over her head which in a strange way made her lovable. Tom Wilkinson gives a wonderful performance as James Baker, but he's ultimately too underdeveloped to sympathize with in any way. In fact, the first we hear about him on a personal level is within the last 15 minutes of the film.

    The film's biased viewpoint didn't aggravate me as much as it does in other films. The point of the film is not "Democrats are awesome, screw you Republicans!", but rather a study of the absolute mess and chaos that ensued from a flawed system. Also, near the end, we get a sense that Roach takes no stance whatsoever and simply tells us that things are what they are, and they wouldn't of been any different had Gore won the election. It's a political film, but it's not an anti-Bush protest, it's more of a celebration of the determination of the Democratic party and their absolute reluctance to accept defeat.

    Again, i'll say the problems of "Recount" rely fully on it's characters. There's some wonderful actors, but the film is so heavily populated that everyone seems like a caricature of every politician you've ever seen. The character with the most depth is arguably Kevin Spacey's, who we really don't get much out of except for the first act.

    I'll praise the film for making a thrilling documentary-like film where everyone who's seen it knows exactly what the outcome is. We know where the movie is headed, but we're still shocked by the events that transpire in between... I was only in Junior High in 2000, so my memory of a lot of the election is rather cloudy and this served as a great reminder of what happened.

    I think you could have a great character study in "Recount" had you focused primarily on Spacey and Wilkinson and their motives for what they do, but rather you have a film that's too broad to properly become invested in. The film isn't insulting in anyway, but it certainly passed on some wonderful opportunities for a great story.
  • June 2, 2008
    A marvelous drama masquerading as a documentary... or the other way around. Unlike some others claiming the same, it is fair and balanced, while keeping what actually happened from being wiped clean of any significance. Yes, some people have egg on their face, but no noses are ru...( read more)bbed into it, there is no shaming. All that is left is excellent acting wrapped around a prominent (and more importantly, relevant) piece of American history.

    A convoluted story to tell convincingly, let alone gracefully.
  • May 22, 2009
    The cast did a fantastic job. It felt like this was a movie not based on reality - meaning it could stand on its own - but in addition was a great way for people to be expsed to some of what actually happened in the election.
  • November 19, 2009
    Great/Depressing, i hope this never has to happen again
  • October 10, 2009
    a vry good story showng the drama of the post elections on 2000 . Form the results is seenth at Al Gore was posisbly the winner of those elections though he acepted to be the loser
  • June 7, 2009
    Once or twice the anti-Republican agenda seems to be reaching a little; but thoroughly entertaining storytelling even so.
  • May 13, 2009
    A great story telling about such an event that tells us what can happen even in the oldest and the best democracy in the world. But the sayings of Bush campaign leader have even greater meaning, especially for us: "...But more important than all that is that the system worked. Th...( read more)ere were no tanks on the streets...", isn't it?
  • April 19, 2009
    a fasinating acount from the shambles that was the 2000 us presidential elections, where faulty voting systems come into play, here we see al gores team coming to grips with the situation as it arises, and there atempts to get recounts in the state of florida, where events happen...( read more)d, headed up by a great kevin spacy performance as gores aid, a film that touches upon how maybe bush should not even have got to white house,and gore possibly robbed, and certainly gives a glimpse on voting procedures in the states, and also, tactics involved go count, not count votes, a great little hbo film

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