"537 Votes" (2020 release; 104 min.) is a documentary that reassesses, now 2 decades later, what really happened in Florida in the 2000 presidential election. As the movie opens, we are in "November, 1999" and life seemingly couldn't be better in the US< with the economy ablaze and Alex Penelas, the 30-something yr. old mayor of Miami, having the time of his life. Then in early January 2000, a 5 yr. old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was rescued at sea, the only survivor of an attempt by his mom and others to try and reach the US. It sets in motion what would become a political tsunami... At this point we are 10 min. into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from director Billy Corban, whose previous work includes 2018's interesting "Screwball". Here he takes a look back, with the luxury of 20 years in hindsight, what happened in Florida in the 2000 election. I thought it was very illuminating. Frankly the only thing I remember is the US Supreme Court's decision in favor of W. but this documentary explains how the political landscape in Miami was turned upside down by the unexpected arrival of the Cuban little boy. In fact, the initial 35 minutes of the documentary deal with only that. Then just 5 minutes later we are already at "Election Night". The timing of releasing this documentary couldn't be better as the country is bracing what might happen in the upcoming presidential election in less than 2 weeks. Two major thoughts as I watched this documentary: first, even though the opposing sides disagree on much, the tone of it all and the entire political landscape was polite and respectful, in other words, the complete opposite of what is happening today. There is the (in)famous scene in which Gore says: "I strongly disagree with the Supreme Court's decision, but I respect it." Can you imagine Dear Leader in the White House saying this? Second, equally striking, is how the Republican tactics were the same then as they are now: doing whatever they can, legally or otherwise, to suppress the vote as much as possible. It is just absolutely shameful.
"537 Votes" premiered this week on HBO and is now available on HBO On Demand and other streaming services. If you have any interest in politics or are simply curious in a refresher course on what happened in Florida in the 2000 elections, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
