Initially, “Hot Tub Time Machine” director Steve Pink was hesitant about making “The Last Republican,” a documentary about former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. A self-described far-left progressive, Pink wasn’t sure whether Kinzinger, a conservative whose efforts to hold Donald Trump accountable for the Jan. 6 insurrection, was a worthy subject for a documentary.
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“The idea was that we're both from Illinois, so that was cool, and we both have a Midwestern orientation, but I just couldn't think of a single thing that I would agree with him on other than this one thing, which was that there was clearly something new happening in American life that was and is calling into question the nature of our democracy,” Pink says.
When the U.S. Capitol came under siege on January 6, 2021, Kinzinger was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach the former president for incitement of insurrection. He subsequently served on the congressional committee investigating what happened on January 6. Afterward, Kinzinger was not only rejected by his own party, but he and his family were also the subject of death threats.
Ultimately, Pink realized that Kinzinger's decision to sacrifice his career to defend his principles made him a highly suitable subject for a documentary.
