James Hughes is the son of John Hughes, who also served as executive producer for the movie (one of only two in John Hughes' career that he produced without writing himself—the other was Only the Lonely). It was also the last movie where John Hughes served as producer before his death.[citation needed]
Plot
Will Maddox (Blake Shields) has a theory about students not liking the idea of school and authority and thinking that it is a prison. He tests this theory and examines the boundaries of authority and his friendships. A few years before, a student, John Stanton (Michael Shannon) was committed to an insane asylum, for reasons unknown to most everybody except the principal. One day he escapes, releasing everyone else from the asylums around. Maddox sees this defiance which is the start of his anarchy. Maddox wants to "help him" and understand him more so they start a correspondence and Stanton tells him what to do and how to do it. This is includes the erasing of student grades, posting posters/fliers, and locking part of the student body in a room, among other things. Maddox gets his friends involved and challenges authority and gets most of the school behind him, including an administrator for a while. He is so consumed with creating chaos and disorder that his friends start to see the destruction, but they have to save themselves, and him before he can take complete control over the school.[2]
