Reopening political wounds

At last, here's something liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans can agree on: HBO's "Recount," a two-hour retelling of the battle over Florida in the 2000 presidential election.

Yet they'll agree in anger, as Dems fume anew over how the election was stolen, while Republicans detect a liberal slant in the depiction, in particular, of Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris.

That, however, is what I like about "Recount," which debuts at 8 p.m. Sunday on the premium-cable channel. If it makes a viewer mad, that's a healthy response, good for the democracy. And I do have to insist that "Recount" appears to be impeccably researched by screenwriter Danny Strong. Anyone can take issue with the satirical elements that inevitably creep into the made-for-TV movie, but the facts are the facts -- which is just what makes Democrats so mad.

"Recount" focuses on Kevin Spacey as Ron Klain, former chief of staff to Al Gore. As the movie opens, on Election Day 2000, Klain is serving out his time fighting the good fight, still trying to get over his campaign demotion -- and not exactly enthralled with the low-level position he's being offered should Gore win by Bill Daley (played by the unlikely Mitch Pileggi of "The X-Files").

As we all recall, the TV networks mess up that night calling Florida -- not once, but twice. The production draws on actual footage of NBC's Tom Brokaw metaphorically shrugging his shoulders over the original Gore call with the remark, "What the networks giveth, the networks taketh away," as well as CBS' Dan Rather calling the state emphatically for George W. Bush before that too is withdrawn. Director Jay Roach then delights in a little action sequence as Klain and Denis Leary's Michael Whouley team up to narrowly prevent Gore from actually conceding in person to Bush -- thus taking back a previous concession by phone.

That's where the movie hunkers down with the title recount -- and where it gets a little playful with the characters, while sticking to the facts. Roach is best known as a director of comedies -- the "Austin Powers" and "Meet the Parents" movies -- and he seems to have encouraged Laura Dern in depicting Harris as blithely self-absorbed. It's not only the Republicans who get skewered, however. John Hurt portrays Warren Christopher as a dithering old diplomat out of his depth, weighed down by a perverted sense of noblesse oblige.

"He probably eats his M&Ms with a knife and fork," Whouley scoffs.

Klain tries to shake him into action, saying, "It is brass-knuckle time, Chris," but Christopher says, "Chaos will not help our cause" and "I can't do it like this" before bowing out. That leaves Klain and Whouley a free hand at the political infighting, as they deal face to face with James Baker III, perfectly played by Tom Wilkinson, who all but steals this movie just as he all but steals every movie he's been in over the last several years.

Wilkinson appears to be a little bigger than the actual Baker, so he simply makes Baker a bigger character: strong, determined, indomitable. The familiar character actor Bruce McGill is almost as good as cutthroat Republican adviser Mac "The Knife" Stipanovich.

The Republicans beat the Democrats to the courts, so Klain and Whouley call in lawyer David Boies, who looses a little of his brilliance even as his eccentricities are embellished by Ed Begley Jr. But by that time the fine points are moot: We all know where this story is headed.

So, yes, Democrats will be irked all over again at how the election was more or less stolen, just as Republicans will be nonplussed to have it pointed out again after Bush won fair and square in the courts. And, yes, Roach appears to encourage a little dramatic license in the depiction of the historical figures. Just don't get the idea that any of this is actually made up.

Strong reportedly drew from a host of news reports and sources, including Harris' own book, "Center of the Storm." The New Yorker and CNN reporter Jeffrey Toobin headed a panel of media consultants, and the script was submitted to both Klain and Baker along the way.

So if "Recount" makes a viewer mad, it's because the history makes one mad, and there is no getting around that. In many ways, our nation has remained divided over it ever since.