TV Review: Recount

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Recount (2008)–***1/2
TV Review

With equal parts The West Wing and The Queen, HBO’s Jay Roach-directed telefilm Recount rivetingly chronicles the chaos surrounding the disputed 2000 Florida presidential election. There’s a necessary sense of seriousness around the subject, but the polished-scripting from actor-turned-writer Danny Strong and Roach’s comic sensibilities perfectly capture the ups and downs of the most dramatic presidential election in our lifetime.

I thought I would hate having Austin Powers helmer Roach take over the directing duties after Sydney Pollack dropped out due to health reasons. At times, Recount is unapologetically light-hearted, which serves the audience well considering the exhausting drama that has unfolded in the current presidential race. We needed a break today, and we got it.

Kevin Spacey plays Ron Klain, an attorney working for Gore’s presidential campaign. Klain (who served as the former vice president’s chief of staff) is still stinging a bit from being ousted from the campaign in its early days, so much so that he won’t take a position in the Gore administration. It’s an eight-year demotion, he says, but Klain turns into a major fighter for Gore when Florida’s election results are too close to call.

Even with a massive ensemble cast, Spacey’s Klain is the film’s central character. He didn’t have as high a profile as a Warren Christopher (John Hurt) or a James Baker (Tom Wilkinson). He didn’t have the national spotlight like Katherine Harris (played here by Laura Dern). But here, maybe more because of Kevin Spacey than anyone, Klain takes center stage. He’s the film’s dramatic touchstone.

Spacey has an inviting personality that can seem both buoyant and serious all at once. He’s a solid fit for a film that has a lot going on under the surface. Recount is more polished than it appears at first glance, so we are comfortable laughing at Katherine Harris’ stumbling into the national spotlight or the confusion in the faces of elderly voters looking at those butterfly ballots.

Yes, some of these moments are worthy of a laugh even though the situation could hardly be more serious. Who couldn’t find humor in the ridiculous discussions about punch card ballots? (“The plural of chad is chad?”) The balance, however, is key. In fact, if the Recount team had taken over The West Wing after Aaron Sorkin left, the drama’s audience might have stuck around. But regardless of what could have been, Recount is still as entertaining as any film about American politics can be.

Recount, directed by Jay Roach, starring Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern, and Tom Wilkinson with John Hurt, Dennis Leary, Bob Balaban, and Ed Begley, Jr., airs Sunday, May 25, at 9 p.m. on HBO.