HBO’s Florida Recount Film to Air in Middle of 2008 Presidential Campaign

Photo of Noel Sheppard.

HBO announced Monday that it is about to begin filming a new drama dealing with the 2000 Florida recount debacle that "will air during the heat of the presidential campaign in 2008."

Isn't that special?

Maybe even more delicious is that one of the stars of the upcoming film, Kevin Spacey, just had dinner with Hugo Chavez.

As reported by Variety:

Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern, Denis Leary, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, Ed Begley Jr. and Bob Balaban have been set by HBO Films to star in "Recount," the drama about the controversial Florida results in the 2000 presidential election.

[...]

Spacey, who hasn't done television since the 1991 biopic "Darrow," stars as Ron Klain, former chief of staff for vice president Al Gore and one of the lead attorneys who challenged the disputed results of voting in Florida.

Dern plays Katherine Harris, the Secretary of State of Florida who became the center of controversy when she certified that George W. Bush won the state.

Begley plays David Boies, the lawyer who appealed the results and argued for the Democrats in court. Leary plays Michael Whouley, a pollster on the Democrat side and Hurt plays Warren Christopher, a key player in the Gore camp. Wilkinson plays James Baker, brought in by the Republicans to see that the disputed results held up. Balaban plays Ben Ginsberg, the lead attorney for Bush and Dick Cheney.

I'm sure we're all looking forward to a very balanced depiction of what occurred in Florida seven years ago that in no way casts an unwarranted negative light on Republicans that could possibly impact the 2008 elections.

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.


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Noel, I suppose you had a

Noel, I suppose you had a problem with the 2004 John Kerry "Documentary" that ran on the eve of the election, right?

Bush did steal the election

Bush did steal the election dammit

A made-for-tv movie proves everything

If it's on HBO it must be

If it's on HBO it must be true. HBO: The You Tube for liberals.

Wait...

I thought YouTube was the YouTube for liberals.

Yeah, but by it's very

Yeah, but by it's very nature, You Tube has other views - not necessarily liberal or conservative. HBO seems to have become an outlet for every liberal film project that can't make it on the network or theater release. It's an exclusive preserve.

The difference is that the

The difference is that the piece aired by Sinclair broadcasting featured testimony from Vietnam POW's who were reacting to Kerry's 1971 Congressional testimony (his infamous "Genngish Khan" speech). It was then and is today their position that Kerry, a US military officer, had betrayed them while they were incarcerated by the North Vietnamese.  

The HBO movie will be a Hollywood interpretation (not biased I'm sure), of the events in Florida in the aftermath of the 2000 election.

There is a difference; the first is a collection of primary source accounts. The second is an "entertainment" interpretation with none of the original players included in the broadcast.

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.  ~ Unknown

Hey Noel.. Boies

Hey Noel. Just can't wait. Remember Boies arguing in front of the Florida Supreme Court that (I'm reaching - perhaps you can come up with it) .. the Court would be out of line in ordering up a statewide recount -- only recounts in the matters in front of the court could be considered?

Wonder if that argument will be in the film?

And in the end, it is always worthwhile to remember that it did not matter that the US Supreme court ruled 7-2 in favor of Bush, in Bush v Gore. Had the SC ruled against Bush, and allowed the State of Florida to comply with the Florida SC, then Bush would have won anyway, as the recounts by the media clearly demonstrated. The US Supreme Court, in reality, did not hand Bush anything, that was not already on the books.

(;~> gary 

 

Dident Kevin Spacey just

Dident Kevin Spacey just meet with Chavez? What a perfect match up here. HBO, Spacey and the 2000 election. Besides, dosent federal law state that in a federal election, a recount has to include the entire state?

Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!

"Only the Toes Knows"

Yes, I read that too.  I also saw Spacey and Chavez weren't answering questions from the media.  I guess "Only the toes knows" what went on during that meeting.  I wonder why Bill Maher isn't starrring in this supposedly non-biased program on HBO.

 

"Only the toes knows"  Mel Proffit

 

Carl! How can you use the

Carl! How can you use the term, "non-biased program" and HBO in the same sentence, with a straight face? 

Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!

Gee

I wonder what angle HBO is going to take...  Hmmm

I doubt it will be about how Algore, with the help of Clinton and Daley - Son of Dead-Men-Voting Daley of Chicago, tried to steal the election, and failing that, tried to discredit Bush before he even took office.

I wonder if they'll do a Docu-Drama about the Vince Foster mystery....

It looks like HBO is

It looks like HBO is content with having only people in MoveOn.Org and The Daily Kos as their audience. Do they cater to anyone else, beyond the occasional "normal" movie?

Movie slant at election time

Yep. Also, ever notice around election time we get to see "All the President's Men" and that movie "Dick"? And always, always some station has to bring up the "history" of Watergate.

Election Movies

Primary Colors - The "true" story of America's first black president.

And the Ted Turner channels

And the Ted Turner channels seem obsessed with Aaron Sorkin's The American President.

And when is Kevin Costner's

And when is Kevin Costner's "Swing Voter" going to be released? What way will it tilt? Any bets?

Whose idea was it to cast

Whose idea was it to cast William Hurt as Warren Christopher?!!!

This is soooo Hollyweird.

This is soooo Hollyweird. The left will tell a totally biased tale so that the unsuspecting public that were either not paying attention at that time or simply not around will "know" what really went on. Like the movie, Platoon of the Vietnam era, it will tell a story that will make America and Americans, in general, look like crap and, in particular, conservatives and Republicans look like evil villians and theives.

Hey, will this prompt the left to "demand" that the UN oversee our 2008 presidential election? Maybe we can get Jimmy Carter to weigh in? He did such a good job ensuring that Hugo "the murdering thug" Chavez is elected for life.

Oh Goody goody....just what

Oh Goody goody....just what we want some silly little leftist biased skit of the hell we all went through because Gore stomped his feet and had a tizzy fit when he lost...acting like a three year old.

Instead of being a man and conceding the fact that he lost....

Noooooo we had to have how many recounts to try to cheat to win....let alone all the leftist court room drama.

I am going to get HBO hooked up again just to relive this....

NOT!

I'm Sure

Eric Alterman will be "technical advisor" for this. He's the doofus who called the Republicans who showed up and tried to prevent the Dems from stealing one of the counties "thugs".

 Yeah, Eric, "thugs" wearing pocket protectors!

...Wilkinson plays James

...Wilkinson plays James Baker, brought in by the Republicans to see that the disputed results held up.

Um, is it just me or does the HBO bias gallop out here like a 4-horse stage coach trying to get away from an Apache war party in a 1950's Cowboy movie?

jmt
http://www.jmichaelt.org