Writer, actor, director and producer Adam Saunders steps into the spotlight in his newest film, “Re-Election.”
“This movie is about finding the commonalities, finding the similarities, finding the things that connect us rather than divide us,” Saunders said in an interview with the Technique.
The film follows Jimmy, a financially struggling 40-year-old man who returns to his old high school to re-enter the student body election he lost two decades ago.
“The feeling of not living up to what he believes he’s supposed to have done is something I certainly relate to,” Saunders said. “That feeling of being behind, asking, ‘What did I do wrong? How did I screw up my life?’ That was a driving force for me to write the script. Because that notion is really self-obsessed… the only way out of that is to focus on other people.”
On a colorful adventure, Jimmy realizes how much the world has shifted over time. He learns about the needs of the next generation through Noa, a high school student and activist portrayed by Bex Taylor-Klaus. “Leadership doesn’t have to be in front of everybody else,” Taylor-Klaus said. “You can learn from walking alongside others. The leaders I respect most are the ones who are in the fray with the people they represent, rather than in front or above.”
“You don’t have to win an election to be a leader,” Saunders agreed, quoting a line from the script. “Leadership is not about ego; it’s about serving the public.”
Noa is openly queer and undergoes a transformation of their own that meditates on the courage it takes to find your voice in today’s world. “A lot of times, playing a queer character is all about their queerness,” Taylor-Klaus explained. “To be able to play a character who’s all about their public service and what they want to give to the world feels really nice, especially right now.”
Meanwhile, Rizwan Manji embraces the film’s comedy in his interpretation of Jimmy’s rival: the charming, larger-than-life Governor Manish. “There’s something about farcical comedy that I just love, when I get to be broad and take up a stage,” he said.
The film takes place in Texas, inviting Manji to lay on a thick Southern drawl in his act. “There was a governor of Louisiana named Bobby Jindal who is also South Asian,” Manji explained. “He’s not a role model, but that’s who I had in mind for this because he uses a kind of fake Southern accent. You know who your constituents are, and you model them in a big sort of way.”
For Manji, the humor carries a moral beneath it. “Despite being Jimmy’s nemesis, he has humanity in the end,” he says. “They’re all able to find some commonality, and that’s a good lesson, not just in politics but in life. We’re all closer together than we’d like to think.”
Saunders had a message for students at Tech: “This is a critical moment in American history. Not just politically, but with AI, the environment, everything facing young people right now. People can be proactive and recognize that they are the change. The way to stop apathy is by caring, by doing what you believe in.”
Taylor-Klaus echoed that sentiment: “Students, you have the power, you have the knowledge. Use it wisely.”
For all its political heart, “Re-Election” stumbles in execution. The scenery feels mass-produced, and the makeup is sloppy, visible all too clearly through the high-budget camera work.
The supporting cast, especially Taylor-Klaus, Manji and Tony Danza give their respective roles richer levels of dimension, but their work is undermined by protagonist Jimmy’s portrayal.
Jimmy willfully fails to listen to anyone else around him throughout the story. His hollow characterization hardens the recurring offensive jabs in the script and dilutes any illustration of his personal growth.
However, there’s no denying Saunders’ sincerity. “Re-Election” is Saunders’s second venture into direction, through his independent production company, Footprint Features. His first was a film titled “Dotty & Soul,” another politically charged comedy.
“[‘Re-Election’] is my voice as an artist,” Saunders said. “I want to talk about topical issues and do them in a way that hopefully can reach a mainstream audience… I’m not a pastor, but I am a storyteller, and I believe with that platform, I have an opportunity to help make the world a better place.”