Recount (film)
Recount | |
---|---|
Music by | Dave Grusin |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | |
Producer | Michael Haussman |
Cinematography | Jim Denault |
Editor | Alan Baumgarten |
Running time | 116 minutes |
Production companies |
|
Original release | |
Network | HBO |
Release | May 25, 2008 |
Recount is a 2008 political drama
Plot
Recount chronicles the
Key points depicted include: Gore's retraction of his personal telephone concession to Bush in the early hours of November 8; the decision by the Gore campaign to sue for hand recounts in
Cast
- Kevin Spacey as Ron Klain
- John Hurt as Warren Christopher
- Laura Dern as Katherine Harris
- Tom Wilkinson as James Baker
- Denis Leary as Michael Whouley
- Ed Begley, Jr. as David Boies
- Bob Balaban as Ben Ginsberg
- Mac Stipanovich
- Paul Jeans as Ted Olson
- Bruce Altman as Mitchell Berger
- Alex Staggs as Craig Waters
- Doug Williford as Mark Fabiani
- Gary Basaraba as Clay Roberts
- Stefen Laurantz as Joe Allbaugh
- Mitch Pileggi as Bill Daley
- Jayne Atkinson as Theresa LePore
- Marcia Jean Kurtz as Carol Roberts
- Mary Bonner Baker as Kerey Carpenter
- Bob Kranz as Bob Butterworth
- Raymond Forchion as Jeff Robinson
- Steve DuMouchel as John Hardin Young
- Marc Macaulay as Robert Zoellick
- Antoni Corone as Tom Feeney
- Matt Miller as Jeb Bush
- Terry Loughlin as William Rehnquist
- Judy Clayton as Sandra Day O'Connor
- William Schallert as John Paul Stevens
- Bruce Gray as Anthony Kennedy
- Michael Bryan French as David Souter
- Howard Elfman as Stephen Breyer
- Jack Shearer as Antonin Scalia
- Benjamin Clayton as Clarence Thomas
- Bradford DeVine as Charles T. Wells
- Candice Critchfield as Judge Myriam Lehr
- Annie Cerillo as Barbara Pariente
- Brewier Welch as Harry Lee Anstead
- Derek Cecil as Jeremy Bash
- Robert Small as George J. Terwilliger III
- Patricia Getty as Margaret D. Tutwiler
- Christopher Schmidt as John E. Sweeney
- Olgia Campbell as Donna Brazile
- James Carrey as Chris Lehane
- Brent Mendenhall as George W. Bush
- Grady Couch as Al Gore
- David Lodge as Joe Lieberman
- Carole Wood as Tipper Gore
- Mark Lamoureux as Reporter
- Brad Blakeman
- Adam LeFevre as Mark Herron
- Jonathan J Tibbs as Al Gore III
Production
Director
In April 2007, it was announced that Sydney Pollack would direct the film.[1] By August, weeks away from the start of principal photography, Pollack withdrew from the project due to a then-undisclosed illness, and was replaced by Jay Roach.[2] Pollack died of cancer on May 26, 2008, one day after Recount premiered on HBO.[3]
Casting
On September 24, 2007, it was announced that Kevin Spacey would star as Ron Klain.[4]
Filming
Recount was shot in Jacksonville and Tallahassee, Florida.
Reception
Reviews
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 78%, based on 18 reviews, and an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Recount deftly brings a controversial chapter of electoral history to dramatic life with a compelling cast, although some viewers may take issue with its conclusions."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6] Mark Moorman of Het Parool, gave the film a rating of four stars on a scale of five, calling Recount an "amazing and funny reconstruction".[7]
Response to fictionalization
Some critics have made charges of bias against the film. Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Recount may not be downright blue, but it's not as purply as it wants to appear. Despite its equal time approach, Recount is an underdog story, and thus a Democrat story."[8] Film critic Roger Ebert disputed claims of bias in his review of the film, stating, "You might assume the movie is pro-Gore and anti-Bush, but you would not be quite right."[9]
In an interview with CNN's Reliable Sources, director Jay Roach responded that the film, "wasn't 100 percent accurate, but it was very true to what went on. ... That's what dramatizations do: stitch together the big ideas with, sometimes, constructs that have to stand for a larger truth." Roach cited All the President's Men as an example.[10] Jake Tapper, an ABC newscaster who was a consultant for the film also stated in response that the film is "a fictional version of what happened" and "tilts to the left because it's generally told from the point of view of the Democrats."[10] The Washington Post further stated that Tapper noted that "while some scenes and language are manufactured, 'a lot of dialogue is not invented, a lot of dialogue is taken from my book, other books and real life.' "[10]
Florida Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters agreed that the script departed from the actual statements he made on live television from the courthouse steps in the fall of 2000. "But the words spoken by the actor who played me [Alex Staggs]," Waters said, "are accurate paraphrasis of the things I actually said or of the documents released by the court at the time."
Democratic strategist Michael Whouley has objected to the amount of swearing he does in the film, and was also uncomfortable with a scene involving a broken chair.
In contrast, Bush legal advisers James Baker and Benjamin Ginsberg have largely given the film good reviews; Baker even hosted his own screening of it, though he does refer to the film as a "Hollywood rendition" of what happened.[11]
Awards and nominations
Gallery
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Craig Waters talks with reporters before oral arguments, December 7, 2000
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Alex Staggs as Craig Waters during filming on location for the HBO movie Recount, November 3, 2007
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The actual Florida Supreme Court listens to December 7, 2000, arguments
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HBO reenacts the December 7 argument during filming, November 4, 2007
References
- ^ "Pollack 'making Bush poll movie'". BBC News. BBC. April 2, 2007. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ "Ill Pollack steps down from film". BBC News. BBC. August 7, 2007. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ "US director Sydney Pollack dies". BBC News. BBC. May 27, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- Penske Business Media. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
- Fandango Media. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ Moorman, Mark (February 19, 2009). "Siamese punk and a recount". Het Parool. p. A&M 23.
- ^ Flynn, Gillian (May 16, 2008). "Recount". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (May 25, 2008). "Recount". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
- ^ a b c Kurtz, Kyle (May 23, 2008). "Truth and Chads Hang In the Balance Of 'Recount'". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ San Jose Mercury News. Digital First Media. Retrieved May 26, 2008.
- ^ "2008 Artios Awards". www.castingsociety.com. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
- ^ "12th Annual TV Awards (2007-08)". Online Film & Television Association. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ "Recount". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
- ^ "2008 Satellite Awards". Satellite Awards. International Press Academy. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
- ^ Finke, Nikki (January 12, 2010). "Nominees For Editors' ACE Eddie Awards". Deadline. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
- ^ "AFI Awards 2008". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners". Art Directors Guild. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
- ^ "THE WINNERS AND NOMINEES FOR THE CINEMA AUDIO SOCIETY AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING FOR 2008". www.cinemaaudiosociety.org. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011.
- ^ "14th Critics' Choice Awards (2009)". DigitalHit.com. January 8, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
- ^ "61st DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- HFPA. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ Fernandez, Jay (January 5, 2009). "Producers guild unveils nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
- ^ "The 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild Awards. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
- ^ "Previous Nominees & Winners: 2008 Awards Winners". Writers Guild Awards. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
External links
- Official website
- Recount at IMDb
- Recount at AllMovie