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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFrom left: Meat (Lane Factor), Jimmy (Adam Saunders) and Faiza (Lucie Solene Allouche) are running for class President in Re-Election, a nostalgic coming of (middle) age comedy.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFrom left: Meat (Lane Factor), Jimmy (Adam Saunders) and Faiza (Lucie Solene Allouche) are running for class President in Re-Election, a nostalgic coming of (middle) age comedy.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Picturehouse<\/p>\n
Race, politics and all the things that divide most of us fuel filmmaker Adam Saunders\u2019 work. The native North Texan pulls quadruple duty on his projects, serving as writer, director, producer and actor. This gives him unparalleled creative control over the films he makes, which means he has the freedom to explore thorny topics<\/a> without alienating audiences. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the opposite of some politicians who want to pick issues that get people fired up,\u201d he explains. \u201cI want to find the connection points, not the division points. And I think there are so many connection points.\u201d<\/p>\n Saunders\u2019 latest effort, Re-Election, is in theaters now. The film follows Jimmy Bauer (Saunders), a guy who never quite figured his life out. He traces his problems back to an election he lost for class president in high school; that his then-opponent in the race is now the governor of Texas only convinces Jimmy that the election really was where everything went wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now in his 40s, Jimmy takes an opportunity to re-enroll in high school with the intention of finally becoming class president. He befriends Noa Polly (Bex Taylor-Klaus), a nonbinary teen with a passion for public service who is navigating the challenges that accompany coming out. Noa acts as a guide for Jimmy in a changed world, as the latter is forced to decide whether winning at all costs is worth it.<\/p>\n The film was partially born of Saunders\u2019 longstanding fascination with politics. Early in the movie, Jimmy can be seen playing with dolls of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. These are not just fun props; they actually belong to Saunders (who has had them since he was a kid). The filmmaker has always considered himself a \u201cpolitical junkie,\u201d wanting to understand why certain people have been able to ascend the political mountain throughout history, in spite of their shortcomings.<\/p>\n \u201cLincoln was a very unwell-known guy who wore pants that didn\u2019t really fit\u2026 He was not particularly popular, you know. He was kind of an awkward guy,\u201d Saunders says. \u201cWhy did we pick him at that moment to become probably the most important political leader in American history?\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to Saunders\u2019 political interests, Re-Election takes inspiration from an array of earlier films. It straddles the line between Billy Madison and Election, more grounded than the former and lighter than the latter. Tonally, Saunders says he wanted to land closer to 1987\u2019s Can\u2019t Buy Me Love, a Patrick Dempsey vehicle about a nerd who pays a cheerleader to pretend to be his girlfriend for a month.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not laugh-out-loud every second,\u201d says Saunders of his film. \u201cIt\u2019s more like you\u2019re along for the ride and it has something to say.\u201d<\/p>\n That tonal balance is perhaps Saunders\u2019 greatest achievement in Re-Election. He distributes his weight as writer, producer, director and actor by fully committing to each in turn instead of halfheartedly committing to them all simultaneously. In front of the camera, he is only thinking about acting. Behind it, he is fully focused on directing his actors. Being present allows him to create an environment where the people he works with, including veteran performers like Tony Danza and Kym Whitley, can bring their own unique ideas to the set and rely on him to keep them from going too far afield.<\/p>\n While some directors build reputations on being averse to outside influences in order to maintain total control, Saunders stays far away from that mentality on set. Director Ed Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai) was a mentor to him early in his career and once told him that a director should never turn down a good idea, no matter who it comes from. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re the director, you\u2019re gonna get the credit anyway,\u201d laughs Saunders.<\/p>\n