“Recount”, the HBO telefilm that was shown in the US in May and won an Emmy in September, will be broadcast in Israel tomorrow, election day (most Israeli broadcasters plan a whole day of special programming in lieu of the American elections. We’re quite stressed by their outcome over here.)

The story told in “Recount”, chronicling the weeks after the 2000 elections and the Florida recount, was made earlier into a 10 minutes documentary in 2002 by Spike Lee, titles “We Wuz Robbed“. (see it here).

Two weeks ago I chatted with Jay Roach, “Recount”’s director, on the phone, ahead of the Israeli premiere. I loved Roach’s “Austin Powers International Man of Mystery” and “Meet the Parents”, two films that made me consider crowning him “The Harold Ramis of Today”. Or maybe he is more of a Blake Edwards, another genius (and isn’t Ramis the Blake Edwards of the Eighties and Nineties, with Bill Murray his Peter Sellers?).
Anyway, the sequels to both franchises made me rethink my statement. I didn’t care much for them. But his latter day involvements with “Borat” (my favorite American movie of 2006) as producer, and now with “Recount” as director led me to think that Roach still has untapped greatness in him and that his true masterpiece - either comedic, dramatic or political - is still ahead of him.

Roach inherited “Recount” from Sydney Pollack, who was in pre-production already when his bout with cancer made him drop out. “It was a really sad lunch”, remembers Roach the meeting with Pollack and Paula Weinstein when his was offered the project, “I didn’t know Sydney was ill. I was a great follower of him, and he knew I was looking for a serious project to direct”. A day after the HBO premiere of “Recount”, Pollack passed away.

Before “Recount” was handed over to him, Roach was developing a political project of his own, about Mark Felt, who was outed as “Deep Throat” in the Watergate investigation. Though Roach is not presently involved in any project the Mark Felt may be his next movie.
Or, it could be “Used Guys”. The Ben Stiller-Jim Carrey comedy was canceled a few years ago, but - says Roach - “a couple of weeks ago it got fast tracked by the studio again. Ben Stiller is still attached, Jim Carrey is not. We’ll see who’ll be there next to Ben”.
What about a fourth Austin Powers?
“I’m talking to Mike Meyers about it. But I won’t do it unless we have a script that makes the movie worth making. Too many times the studio wants to make a sequel for the sake of the brand. I want a sequel only if we can take the original concept further then where we were”.
What was you involvement exactly with “Borat”. You’re credited as a producer. What does it mean?
“Sacha Baron-Cohen came to me with the project and I helped him develop it. He wanted me to direct but I realized that the crew on this movie had to pretend they are actually shooting something else and I’m afraid I’m a terrible actor”.
And now you’re a producer on “Bruno”. Have you seen anything?
“I have and I can promise you that Sacha does not disappoint. They are still shooting and editing and because of the way Sacha works the movie is constantly changing”.
Baron-Cohen comes to Israel quite often, he has family here, He even shot parts of “Bruno” here. Did you ever see “Borat” with an Israeli audience? When Borat speaks Kazakh he actually speaks Hebrew with a very foul language. It’s hysterically hilarious and these are bits that only Israeli audiences get.
“I knew it was Hebrew but I never knew what he was saying. Did you see the movie at the Haifa Film Festival in 2006?”
I did! It was right after the premiere in Toronto. It was a midnight screening in front of almost 1,000 people and it was one of the funniest movie screenings in my life. People screamed in laughter.
“Oh my, I wish I could’ve been there. Sacha told me about that screening. His family was there.”
Did you see the Spike Lee short? It tells almost the exact story of “Recount” in 10 minutes.
“I did. It was a great help for our research. We couldn’t find anything on Michael Whouley, who was on the Gore campaign, no pictures, no interviews, he’s quite mysterious, but Spike got him to talk on his film, so we could study the way he looks and talks. Dennis Leary plays him in our movie”.
What will happen on Election Day in America?
“I think it’s quite safe to say that Barack Obama is going to win. I’m a supporter of his campaign but I think that even the Republicans know they are going to lose by now. My main concern now is what will happen in Congress, because without the majority in congress the President will have a hard time implementing his vision”.