Movie Review: Recount - Gore vs. Bush in Florida 2000
HBO’s new movie “Recount” is an entertaining look at the controversial 2000 Presidential election results in Florida.
You don’t need to be an election geek to enjoy this film. “Recount” is a fun and educational way to revisit the 2000 Florida vote debacle. Everyone interested in the 2008 election should watch “Recount”.
Unfortunately, some people today still have a simplistic, uninformed view of the Florida election controversies. Some believe that George W. Bush won Florida fair and square. Those who think Al Gore won Florida may be correct, but “Recount” sets the record straight: Florida 2000 was a big, ugly mess with no clear winner.
“Recount” dramatically shows the many dimensions of the whole Florida vote battle as a series of controversies. Superb editing keeps a brisk pace. We see political insiders in emotional arguments over rules, angry protests, funny protests, frantic election officials, citizens illegally denied the right to vote, court proceedings in Florida and the Supreme Court. “Recount” spotlights the most important points but never bogs down into tedious detail. Who knew that dimpled chads could be so much fun? Watch “Recount” and you will really know and also care about chads, and especially, why election rules are so important.
Like all good historical movies, “Recount” is very accurate about the important facts but takes some dramatic license with the historical characters. I was disappointed with the screenplay’s portrayal of Warren Christopher (played by John Hurt), but that is a minor quibble. “Recount” is a literary tragedy: we already know the outcome but we are fascinated in watching the story unfold.
Precisely tabulating millions of votes will remain impossible for the foreseeable future. Have you ever experienced: a paper jam in a 3-hole punch or shredder or printer or copy machine or document feeder, a staple jam, a computer glitch, a typo? If you answered “yes”, then you get the idea - “stuff happens”. If you answered “no”, then you’ve never worked with information. We must do everything we can to attempt to count every vote correctly.
Much of the Gore vs. Bush legal battles involved the concept of voter intention. Many Floridians accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan when they meant to vote for Al Gore, because some people (especially older voters with vision problems) were confused by the infamous “butterfly” ballot. “Recount” demystifies the 2000 Florida recount controversies. We see how missteps in the very practical “nuts and bolts” election mechanics ultimately determined who would be the next President of the United States.
Today’s computerized solutions worry me because the systems are unproven, and technology requires vigilant auditing and maximum security. The “old-fashioned” paper ballot method is open to human error and vote fraud. A consensus is forming that a combination of technology and paper is the best approach. Preventing cheating is paramount.
I remember when I was a kid, my parents took me along when they went to vote at their polling place in Chicago (during the Richard J. Daley years). The Democratic Party precinct captain was quite proud to show me how he could easily cancel a vote if he thought the voter was a Republican. That is my earliest memory of elections, and I guess that was my first step in starting this website.
Links about “Recount”:
- Read Roger Ebert’s review.
- Watch this video of the “At the Movies” review by Richard Roper and Michael Phillips. (Unfortunately, this video is not available for embedding in this page and you need to wait for commercials before the review starts).
- Read the Wikipedia article about Recount (the movie) and, more importantly, the Wikipedia article about the history of the Florida 2000 election controversies and also a Florida recount analysis.
Other political movies I highly recommend:
- All the President’s Men (about Watergate, compelling history)
- Network (about the media, satirical)
- The Candidate (about election campaigns, satirical)
- Advise and Consent (about political hardball and blackmail, dramatic)
- Primary Colors (about the Clintons, satirical)
- Wag the Dog (about political media manipulation, satirical)
No Comments »
No comments submitted yet.
Loading ...