Two-time Oscarￂﾮ winner Kevin Spacey ("American Beauty," "The Usual Suspects") leads the ensemble cast of HBO Films" "RECOUNT." Directed by Jay Roach ("Meet the Parents"), the film revisits one of the most riveting and controversial moments in U.S. history -- the 2000 presidential election
in Florida -- exploring the story behind the headlines to depict the 36-day tactical battle to determine who would become the 43rd president of the United States.
Debuting Sunday, May 25 (9:00 pm -11:00 pm ET/PT) on HBO, "RECOUNT" also stars (in alphabetical order) Bob Balaban ("For Your Consideration"), Ed Begley, Jr. ("Living with Ed"), Laura Dern ("Year of the Dog"), John Hurt ("The Elephant Man"), Denis Leary ("Rescue Me"), Bruce McGill ("Cinderella Man") and Tom Wilkinson ("Michael Clayton").
A Spring Creek/Mirage production in association with Trigger Street Productions and Everyman Pictures, "RECOUNT" is executive produced by Emmyￂﾮ winner Paula Weinstein (HBO"s "Truman"), HBO Films senior vice president Len Amato ("Blood Diamond"), Oscarￂﾮ winner Sydney Pollack ("Out of Africa") and Jay Roach, and written by Danny Strong. Michael Hausman ("Brokeback Mountain") produces. "RECOUNT" offers a riveting behind-the-scenes look at the Florida presidential vote recount from Election Day in November 2000 through the Supreme Court"s ruling in favor of George W. Bush over Al Gore five weeks later. Mixing larger-than-life personalities with more dramatic twists than ever could have been imagined (and adding the expressions "butterfly ballot" and "hanging chad" to the American lexicon), the film takes a fascinating look at the human drama of characters involved in the chain of events that would determine the leadership of the country.
Following the screening, former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, will participate in a discussion about the U.S. federal election system; TIME magazine national correspondent David Von Drehle will be the moderator. Carter and Baker were co-chairmen of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, which presented its report in September 2005.