Every vote counts. Maybe in a utopia, but not in the unfortunately real world of dimpled and hanging chad, confusing butterfly ballots and courtroom standoffs over the most hotly challenged and feverishly reported presidential contest in modern times.

HBO’s crisply told, colorfully acted Recount wants to be both legal thriller and nightmare farce as it recounts, with news footage and dramatic re-creation, the cliff-hanger aftermath in Florida of the 2000 “squeaker” election between George W. Bush and Al Gore (both mostly off camera).

It has its moments, but can’t help but pale next to our own vivid memories of what it was actually like to live through those 36 days of volatile uncertainty. While the combatants regard the debacle over voting irregularities as a “street fight for the presidency,” the movie often feels like an inner-circle wonkfest: All the Would-Be President’s Lawyers.

Still, what a cast: Kevin Spacey as Gore’s former chief of staff Ron Klain, increasingly desperate amid the whiplash of court rulings; Tom Wilkinson as his scrappy, cagey adversary James Baker III; Ed Begley Jr. as David Boies, who pleads Gore’s case to the Supreme Court; the hilariously profane Denis Leary as a Gore operative who walks us through the “chad” mess (“Unfortunately for us, blind f---ing bats tend to vote Democratic”); and Laura Dern crossing the line into Saturday Night Live/Ana Gasteyer parody as the preeningly self-important Katherine Harris, the Florida secretary of state so impatient to certify the vote for Bush.

A few weeks ago, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said “Get over it” when asked by 60 Minutes about the court’s decision. Recount is a potent reminder of why a nation devoted to democracy can’t afford to forget.

Recount airs Sunday, 5/25, 9/8c, HBO

SIDEBAR: Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins

What becomes a meerkat legend most? For Flower, the Whiskers family matriarch whose death last season galvanized Meerkat Manor fans, honor comes in a movie-bio prequel, Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins. Whoopi Goldberg provides the storybook-like narration to this elaborate restaging of events in Flower’s life, from birth during a sandstorm to her eventual domination of the tribe.

Flower’s battle of nerves with a cobra is impressive, as is the photography. A “making of” special follows, all a prelude to the fourth season starting June 6. In Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation (narrated by Stockard Channing), Flower’s daughters Rocket Dog and Maybelline square off as both battle the elements and predators.

Mama could have told them that Mother Nature never lets up.

Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins airs Sunday, 5/25, 8/7c, Animal Planet