I would have preferred to see non bias documentary as that what makes a true Documentary. It's similar to a Dinesh D'Souza Documentary as it has a lot of facts but presented in a bias manner. The film was still entertaining and brought back a lot of memories of that crazy year..
14 Reviews
Doc that shows how things connected to influence the 2000 Presidential election in Florida!
blanbrn10 November 2020
"537 Votes" is another one of those eye opening well done well researched political historical docs as the footage brings back memories and times that long stand in memory. Plus it's topic and theme of a close election and recount is common with today's happenings this picture showed how other factors lead to the narrow and razor thin victory for George W. Bush over Al Gore. Thru interviews and takes from political leaders and those in the sunshine state the Cuban population and the arrival of one Elian Gonzalez on the Miami shores set in a dynamic that influenced south Florida and Miami, Dade county voters! As it was clear this issue was an international power struggle that affected all involved! Also the chad problem on the Florida ballots is well documented. Overall well done powerful political doc that's still relatable and common ground one film that any political or historical buff should watch!
Insightful documentary on what really happened in Florida in the 2000 elections
paul-allaer22 October 2020
"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.
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.
Should have been better
billsoccer1 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
For the record - I voted for Bush but grimaced at the way he won. It's embarrassing watching Republicans blatantly attempt to tamper with vote counting. Still, the documentary only laid out innuendo, especially about the halting of the counting in Miami. It didn't discuss the honest debate about how to - or whether they should - count hanging/pregnant chads. Nor did it even mention the legal case the US Supreme Court used to stop the counts. I would have liked to have heard more on the latter
"537 Votes" tells it like it was
vilj-125 October 2020
This was one of Fidel's biggest worldwide victories. The War for Elian Gonzalez was heard throughout the world. La Familia Cubana de Miami and Cubans in general came out looking like "dirt". Many Cuban Democrats didn't vote for Gore as payback for the Democrats having "taken" Elian back to Cuba with his father (voto de castigo). That of course, contributed to Bush winning, with consequences like the war in Iraq and you know the rest. Excellent documentary.
Miami - Dade County
Kirpianuscus26 November 2020
A very useful documentary for understand the resorts of democracy. Powerful in the context of 2020 presidential elections, interesting for the mechanism of victory of G.W.Bush and great for the reflection of details. It is just fascinating this huge ball of manipulation and precises steps to the expected- forced win. So, just useful proof about the force of a county.
Memories
bysterbusch31 October 2020
Due to the systematic tainting of the media, I doubt the accuracy of the details that are provided are correct let alone how they are presented. It was fascinating to relive what happened that election cycle as it was quite bizarre. Regardless, Americans are all grateful Al Gore did not become our president.
If You Like REAL documentaries...
SteverB25 October 2020
... this is the one to watch about the theft of the White House by the Supreme Court and the Republican Party in the 2000 election. What is happening today got a big boost then.
Some reviewers here obviously can't handle the truth about what the United States election system has become. Not only do we have to guard against foreign interference, we have to especially guard against domestic interference.
This documentary, well worth your time, is yet another example of how "both sides" are not nearly the same. It is only one side that sets out to cheat to win elections to stay in power that they don't deserve, and certainly don't earn. It is absolutely shameful that the United States of America has come to this.
Some reviewers here obviously can't handle the truth about what the United States election system has become. Not only do we have to guard against foreign interference, we have to especially guard against domestic interference.
This documentary, well worth your time, is yet another example of how "both sides" are not nearly the same. It is only one side that sets out to cheat to win elections to stay in power that they don't deserve, and certainly don't earn. It is absolutely shameful that the United States of America has come to this.
20 Years of OCD and the Pregnant Chad.
mherrity23 October 2020
HBO's 537 VOTES is actually two documentaries merged into one leading up to the 2000 Presidential election. The first 45 minutes is very entertaining and enlightening. Exploring the dynamic Cuban influence of southern Miami. It also chronicles the custody battle for Elian Gonzales between Cuban Immigrants Miami and Communist Cuba's Fidel Castro.
The Second hour highlights the infamous Florida's Recount and Fernand Amandi's OCD refusal to accept the outcome. Twenty years later and this man is still extremely bitter. There are no surprises and we know how it ends. I recommend the documentary with the forewarning in the last 10 minutes there'a very partisan taking of liberties to manipulate the facts and conjecture into world events.
Entertaining, yet bias beyond belief
james-2368723 February 2021
Interesting but clearly biased
salmosalar-044197 December 2023
Reasonably well done political piece designed to largely make one think the election was stolen from Gore, though, to be fair, it did present some comment from both sides. Wish it had been a straight representation of history and let the viewer decide what actually took place and what affect it had on our country/history. Thought the biggest joke was comments that if Gore had won 9/11 never would have happened. Didn't realize Bin Laden was such a Gore fan. Went in to say the Iraq war would have been avoided as well, which probably would be true if in fact 9/11 didn't happen. Too bad this could have been great. It was trying and interesting time in our history. An honest documentary would have been far better.
Liberal Democrat Fiction
mikejack-31 February 2023
Does this really need to be so biased?? Just tell the story and events without the OVERT liberal bias and spin. Make sure BOTH sides of the story are represented. The documentary even goes on to presume that the United States would have been this magical Utopia if Al Gore would have been elected when in reality we would have had massive increases in middle class taxation and crippling inflation. Really disappointing as this could have been a halfway decent documentary if yold in a neutral unbiased way. 75% lies and spin with a little truth and facts sprinkled in just to keep from vomiting. This documentary os worse than Joe Biden's Inflation(i.e THAT'S REALLY BAD).
Democratic commercial in election year
trimblair7 November 2020
If HBO makes it, it will be very liberal. Revisionist history here. Yes. Clinton was president and Janet Reno mishandled the custody issue. Also, there are always election problems in FL but their Democratic head of elections is part of the problem, not (as this movie claims) mysterious Cuban influences. The threw out cases of military votes (80% Republican) which was later overturned in court. This movie didn't she well since Trump took Florida early in the 2020 race! Movie is ridiculous waste of time.
Gore lost Florida and all the non-partisan studies how it. Each time the votes were counted the Republciana lead increased
random-7077829 October 2020
So Al gore didn't care about the constitution or the will of the people. he and his minions spent millions trying to subvert the actual results.
Can you imagine if Trump spends as much money on court cases to fight the results, what the Democrats will say? If he does what Gore did, they will accuse him of subverting the election
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
