HBO's Recount Scathing But Fair

"Recount," HBO’s “first-rate” docudrama about the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election, takes the bold step of showing the harsh truth of the story, instead of “playing it safe,” writes Gary Kamiya for Salon. Leading players on both sides approved the script—surprising, Kamiya notes, “because 'Recount' shows just what an outrageous, profoundly anti-democratic coup” George W. Bush’s team achieved.

That said, it “tries to be fair to the GOP” and doesn’t editorialize. It humanizes James Baker, major architect of Bush’s victory, and it manages to balance the facts with fast-paced entertainment. But ultimately, “it makes it painfully and inescapably clear” that Bush supporters “did nothing less than successfully subvert American democracy in order to get their man in office,” Kamiya writes. (More HBO stories.)