Review by James Lindorf
It has been six years since director Alexander Payne brought a film to theaters. Typically, his projects get acclaim, awards nominations, and wins. However, 2017’s “Downsizing” was considered a departure from his standard fare. It failed to win over critics and audiences and did not even make back its budget at the box office. Nearly twenty years after “Sideways,” Payne is reuniting with Paul Giamatti and offering us his take on a holiday film with a script from writer David Hemingson. I was lucky enough to see “The Holdovers” early thanks to the Heartland International Film Festival, but the film opens wide on November 10th.
In 1970, Massachusetts’ preeminent prep school for boys was the Barton Academy. The wealthy send their children there not only for a top-notch education but to make connections that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. Ancient history teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is the quintessential Barton man, not because he is wealthy or particularly well-liked, but because he, more than anyone, loves the school and what it offers the students. Paul’s curmudgeonly ways have made him the bane of the student body and the laughingstock of the staff. His stagnant lifestyle begins to change when Paul is forced to look after the kids remaining on campus during the Christmas holiday break. With the help of game shows, field trips, and a few hospital visits, Paul forms an unlikely bond with a troublemaker named Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and the school’s head chef and grieving mother, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
“The Holdovers” will make you laugh and may make you cry as it takes an unusual path to warm our hearts. Hemingson’s script doesn’t quite cross into black comedy territory, but it brings a lot of heavy material to the comedy. There is a large cast at times, but most of the film is spent with our trio of atypical holiday film protagonists. They are not searching for love or bickering with their family; they are a troubled trio that needs more than the standard dose of holiday magic. Paul is miserable, and with good reason. Hemingson has saddled Paul with a shadowy past and a series of physical issues, including hemorrhoids, a lazy eye, a dependence on whiskey, and a rare genetic disease known as Fish Odor Syndrome. Even if all that didn’t make him difficult to get close to, he chose to isolate himself, and when he couldn’t, he loved to belittle his students. Angus is angry and bitter at being left behind while his mom and new stepfather decide to turn the family vacation into a couples retreat. It serves as a tipping point for the young man who has already been kicked out of multiple schools and is making no friends at Barton with his sticky fingers and confrontational nature. Unlike those two, Mary is someone you can instantly connect with and root for. Mary took a job at the school so that her son could attend, and even with a diploma from Barton, he wasn’t on equal footing with his peers. While they were able to avoid the draft, her son wasn’t so lucky and hoped to survive long enough to use the G.I. Bill to attend college like his classmates. Class and race disparities are highlighted, but between the sharp dialogue and emotional performances, it comes off as earnest and not preachy.
The plot of “The Holdovers” is relatively simple. It is just about three people trying to find a path through this challenging time in their lives, and maybe they can help each other along the way. Just as the story starts to feel a little stale, the group begins to make short trips into town with the idea of a field trip at the front of Angus’ mind. Even when they find themselves outside of the school walls, nothing too big happens to shake up the status quo. It is a slow evolution, like a team of divers ascending from the pressure of the deep to the healthy waters and fresh air above. The love for “The Holdovers” comes from the cast and their terrific performances.
Giamatti is fantastic as always, but his turn as Paul may be the highlight of his long career. Da’Vine Joy Randolph is splendid, and while she doesn’t have to carry as much of the film as Giamati, she has the most challenging role of the three. She can be kind, generous, empathetic, and quick with a laugh, and she does it all with despair bubbling below the surface, threatening to overtake her. Outside the high school stage, newcomer Dominic Sessa has never acted. He doesn’t even have a short film under his belt, but he is a natural. Payne was able to mold his raw talent into possibly the best acting debut since Lupita Nyong’o in 2013. “The Holdovers” could be a little shorter and less dialogue-heavy, but it earns a nearly perfect score at 4.5 out of 5 and promises to be a holiday cult classic for years to come.
Rating: R (mostly for language)
Genre: Holiday, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Director: Alexander Payne
Producer: Mark Johnson, Bill Block, David Hemingson
Writer: David Hemingson
Wide Release Date: November 10th, 2023
Runtime: 2h 13m
Distributor: Focus Features
