Hey, I'm a conservative and I enjoyed this film. HBO did a credible job in keeping it as balanced as one could expect in this democrat leaning movie world. Of course I loved the West Wing TV show too even if it trashed most of my values. The bottom line here is:
1) was the acting good - yes! The standouts being Tom Wilkinson (as James Baker), Dennis Leary (as Michael Whouley) and Laura Dern (as Katherine Harris). Dern played Harris as a caricature (she was kooky but not that kooky) but it was fun to watch.
2) was the story good - yes. How could it not be when we had an event happen that the country hadn't seen since the early days of the US presidency. The country was tested and passed in flying colors. Sure it was politically rough for both parties afterwords, with finger pointing lasting for years, but the country itself survived the chaos just fine.
3) do we learn some things - maybe. I'm sure some here read every scrap of info on this thing back in the day but while I was riveted to the event, I didn't see every detail. The back room conversations (assuming accuracy) were pretty cool with both parties feeling they had the moral high ground. The more obtuse tidbits the film decided to go with certainly favored the democrats even though there were plenty of oddities on both sides they could have chosen from. But I have to say I'm used to the norm being a lot more biased. And the questions asked at the end were water cooler topics for the next day. Would Gore have been better? If things were reversed would the US Supreme Court have stopped a Bush recount? Would the Florida Supreme Court have allowed a Bush recount to begin with?
I'll leave my own beliefs on those issues to myself but the fact that they brought about talk and anger at home and work the day after this film aired is a pretty good indication that the movie worked as intended.
Entertainment B+, Facts B, Acting B+
1) was the acting good - yes! The standouts being Tom Wilkinson (as James Baker), Dennis Leary (as Michael Whouley) and Laura Dern (as Katherine Harris). Dern played Harris as a caricature (she was kooky but not that kooky) but it was fun to watch.
2) was the story good - yes. How could it not be when we had an event happen that the country hadn't seen since the early days of the US presidency. The country was tested and passed in flying colors. Sure it was politically rough for both parties afterwords, with finger pointing lasting for years, but the country itself survived the chaos just fine.
3) do we learn some things - maybe. I'm sure some here read every scrap of info on this thing back in the day but while I was riveted to the event, I didn't see every detail. The back room conversations (assuming accuracy) were pretty cool with both parties feeling they had the moral high ground. The more obtuse tidbits the film decided to go with certainly favored the democrats even though there were plenty of oddities on both sides they could have chosen from. But I have to say I'm used to the norm being a lot more biased. And the questions asked at the end were water cooler topics for the next day. Would Gore have been better? If things were reversed would the US Supreme Court have stopped a Bush recount? Would the Florida Supreme Court have allowed a Bush recount to begin with?
I'll leave my own beliefs on those issues to myself but the fact that they brought about talk and anger at home and work the day after this film aired is a pretty good indication that the movie worked as intended.
Entertainment B+, Facts B, Acting B+