Review: The Holdovers – “I’m left with a smile on my face and a yearning to watch it again.”

There are some movies that enter your life and you know immediately you’ll want to re-visit them.  They may even make it into your regular holiday viewing fare.  Alexander Payne’s newest, The Holdovers, is just that film.  In his first directorial feature since 2017’s Downsizing, Payne creates something that is a rarity these days – a mid-budget, character driven film for the adult viewer.  With nary a superhero nor CGI in sight, The Holdovers is a nostalgic delight that despite its snowy setting feels like a warm hug on a cold day.

In 1970 New England Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) spends his days shaping the minds of young men, teaching ancient history at a boarding school.  However, none of his students like him, nor much of the faculty either.  If you looked up the definition of a curmudgeon in the dictionary it’s likely his face would be there.  He seems to revel in his students’ misery and plays everything by the book.  Ethics, rules, structure are unbendable virtues.

As he has no family and nowhere to go, Hunham seems largely unbothered when he is made to supervise the small handful of students that have to remain at the school over Christmas break.  All they’re really interrupting is his reading time.  However, cracks in his hard-shelled demanour seem to appear as he feels a great deal of empathy for the school’s cook, Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) who lost her son in the Vietnam War.  And as he slowly starts to feel the draw of friendship, he also forms an unlikely bond with a student who may be even more broken than him, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa).

Alexander Payne had a run of great films in the early 2000s including Election, About Schmidt and Sideways (which also starred Giamatti and earned Payne an adapted screenplay Oscar).  The Holdovers feels like a return to these days, as much as it feels like a return to the 1970s which is beautifully captured by cinematographer Eigil Bryld (whose numerous credits include In Bruges and most recently No Hard Feelings).  The score from Mark Orton (who was also composer on Payne’s 2013 film Nebraska) helps to set the scene leaning largely on folksy guitar and piano accompanying the winter landscapes and 70’s classroom decor which, on reflection, really hasn’t changed much over the years.

Each character is beautifully developed with writing from David Hemingson. Every personality evolves through the screenplay’s dialogue and the brilliant performances in the film.  Giamatti shows great subtlety as Paul Hunham, a character who could have gone incredibly over the top.  Sessa also excels as the troubled Angus, a young man who has had to overcome much adversity early in life.  But, it’s Da’Vine Joy Randolph that really steals the show here with tremendous emotional range and sincerity.  Look for her, and likely Giamatti, to score acting nods this awards season.

How well this film works leans so heavily on the chemistry between our three leads, which emerges so organically throughout.  Though they start off as unlikely, and unwelcome, companions they turn into a small, realistically dysfunctional family.  I also want to point out the brilliant Carrie Preston, whose presence as an administrator at the school is also a bright spot (as she so often is).   She might not be a main player here, but her supporting role still shines and plays an important part in Hunham’s arc.

As I sit writing this review, it has been a week since I’ve seen The Holdovers and I still feel its presence over me.  I think of it often.  Sometimes it’s the zingers that Giamatti’s character delivers that enter my mind (have I ever heard of anyone referred to as ‘penis cancer in human form’?), other times it’s just remembering the wonderful performances I witnessed, but either way I’m left with a smile on my face and a yearning to watch it again.  I’m not the only one, with the film winning runner up in the coveted People’s Choice Award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Payne keeps his eye on the prize (this wording will mean more after you’ve seen the film) creating a funny, heartfelt movie that never ends up feeling overly saccharine. It’s a film that recognizes the pain and loneliness that can accompany many through the holiday season.  Yet it also acknowledges that the word ‘family’ can have many definitions and come in many shapes and sizes.  The Holdovers is simply one of the year’s best films, poised to become a holiday classic.

The Holdovers is currently playing in North American theatres, with a UK release scheduled for January 19, 2024.