Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Recount


This TV movie is one that definitively will arise controversy, as tells a story that was and perhaps still is touchy and controversial to Americans. But it is a very engaging film with good performances that since the very beginning will grab your attention and keep it until the very end.

For those not familiar with the incidents of the Florida recount, this movie tells about a few very tense moments in the real 2000 USA presidential election that generated worldwide TV coverage in all news broadcasts. Then in America the incident coverage extended to all possible forms. To summarize the real incident and the story of this movie I have to quote Shakespeare: “To recount or not to recount. That’s the question”.

No matter if has many artistic licenses, if is fiction, if is real or whatever, this film definitively makes you think about politics, the system, the flexibility of law and powerful people strategies and tactics in the most powerful country in the world, the so-called leader of the “free world”. And yes, if you’re not an American, you get that feeling of “if it happens there, everything could happen elsewhere”, which is preposterous, as we always have known that “everything” also happens there.

The real value I find in this movie is that it has well-written characters, excellent performances, and quite good directing by Jay Roach, which makes a film with an unexpected tension and suspense, especially when we all know the outcome of the story.

The most amazing performance in my opinion comes from Laura Dern that plays a Katherine Harris that looks so credible when comparing her to what I saw in the real news. Still, even if she was not so look and behave alike, Dern screen presence and colorful character steals the movie. Also there are other look-alike characters that for moments I wasn’t sure if they were showing real footage or a re-enactment of events (obviously they are re-enactments, but look so real).

Passions based films always are risky, as we all know that passion is blind. So, I imagine that this movie could generate all kind of reactions in Americans and some will hate it, some will love it and some will not see it. But, I suggest that if you’re American or not, this is a movie you could enjoy if you watch it for its entertainment value.

By the way, it seems that this is only the beginning of films about recent history, as next October Oliver Stone’s “W” will be released in cinemas. Yep, it is about the current president.

I have to say that I enjoyed the movie quite a lot more than I expected.

Enjoy!!!

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