Recount

An account of the Florida recount crisis in the 2000 American presidential election. On election night the networks call it for Gore, then for Bush, then say it is undecided. The margin is a few hundred votes. A recount begins, and the matter descends into law and then into a mechanical detail: the fragments of paper left hanging on ballots the punch machines did not cut through. Its strength is turning a technical detail into a fight. Both sides send armies of lawyers, the counting rules work differently in each county, and the clock is running out. It ends at the Supreme Court. The narrative looks largely from inside the Gore campaign, which was criticised when it aired; the film was called partisan. Kevin Spacey plays the campaign manager, Laura Dern plays the Florida secretary of state Katherine Harris and Tom Wilkinson plays James Baker on the Bush side. Jay Roach directed. It was made for HBO and won Emmys. A good choice for anyone who likes drama about political process. For a viewer unfamiliar with the subject, it assumes you know how the American electoral system works and the legal detail moves fast.