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Recount: The Movie

With the chaos of the 2000 presidential election etched in our memory, creative casting will be essential for HBO's telling of the tale.

By ERIC DEGGANS
Published April 13, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Eric Deggans' casting suggestions Alec Baldwin, left, as Gov. Jeb Bush Darrell Hammond, left, as Jesse Jackson (and Al Gore, and Dick Cheney, ...) Tom Selleck, left, as Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis Goldie Hawn, left, as Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore

News that HBO and Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack are planning a TV movie on the madness that was the 2000 presidential election recount in the Sunshine State prompted just one question here at Floridian's TV Central.

Who will be in the cast?

The femme fatale of the piece, former Secretary of State Katherine Harris, may be the toughest role to fill. Who can capture the unique charm of the woman who was loyal enough to stick by her candidate during the recount, yet still got snubbed by the administration when she decided to run for the Senate?

And other questions loom: Who's got the right mix of know-it-all arrogance and get-it-done charm to play Jeb Bush? Do the actors who play Bush family spokesman James Baker or Gore lawyer David Boies actually have to look like the men they portray?

Will the movie re-create the moment when Fox News anchor Shepard Smith hit a fellow TV journalist with his car to get a parking space in Tallahassee?

HBO won't say much -- Pollack's involvement was leaked to the media before the network had a press strategy ready. But the premium cable channel has indicated the plot will focus on behind-the-scenes players with less fame than Jeb Bush or Katherine Harris. Set to premiere in spring 2008, it was written by Danny Strong, an actor whose credits include (really!) Gilmore Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Oh, and one more thing. It doesn't take sides.

"It's a fascinating look at democracy where the rubber meets the road," HBO Films president Colin Callender told Reuters news agency. "(It's) a look at the election process like we have never seen it before."

But will it be a look at democracy that we didn't already see through weeks of nonstop cable news coverage seven years ago?

Obviously, there's a lot for HBO to chew on. So let me help out.

Here's my proposed cast for the film, based on actual knowledge of the recount story, and fickle opinions about actors and politicians. And if any of these folks should wind up facing the cameras for real, my finder's fee will be quite modest.

Alec Baldwin as Jeb Bush

They both have big heads. And Baldwin knows what it's like to cover for a troublesome brother.

Will Ferrell as George W. Bush

Subsequent lame-o Bush impersonators on Saturday Night Live prove Ferrell was better at this gig than we thought. And he's gotta be jonesing for a role that doesn't require him to take his shirt off (Lord knows, I am).

Saturday Night Live's star impressionist Darrell Hammond as Al Gore, Dick Cheney AND Jesse Jackson

Imagine the salary savings! And we know he can handle all those roles, and maybe even more.

Alf's Willie Tanner or Star Wars' Senator Palpatine as Joe Lieberman

That sweep of hair. Those beady eyes. The princely jowls. Not many folks in Hollywood can turn a hat trick like that one.

Forest Whitaker as Clarence Thomas

If he thought playing Idi Amin was a challenge ...

Eddie Izzard as Katherine Harris

Noted "action transvestite" Izzard's got the right mix of drag queen glamor and hanging-on-by-my-fingernails intensity. If he can handle himself on a horse, the search stops here.

Shepard Smith as himself

Who else would be jerky enough to hit someone with their car over a parking space -- even in a scene for a movie?

Tom Selleck as Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis

Because no one else in Hollywood could grow a mustache quite like that one.

Goldie Hawn or Jessica Simpson as "butterfly ballot" designer Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore

Depending on whether HBO wants the boomers or the young'uns, they can cast Hawn or Simpson as the seriously overmatched woman whose clumsy attempt to build a better ballot only made things worse.

Anthony Hopkins as Bush family adviser James Baker

Because Englishmen love playing Southerners. And after playing Nixon, nailing consummate insider Baker should be a snap.

Denzel Washington as intrepid media critic Eric Deggans

Hey, somebody's got to write the story about how the media got it all wrong.

Eric Deggans can be reached at (727) 893-8521 or deggans@sptimes.com See his blog at blogs.tampabay.com/media.

[Last modified April 12, 2007, 17:33:55]