The Holdovers (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – A cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go.

My Take – Though his reputation took a small hit with Downsizing (2017), there is no doubt filmmaker Alexander Payne knows how to create an artful film considering how he has produced a comparatively more consistently fine body of work over the past 25 years, which consists of an unbroken string of excellent works like Citizen Ruth (1996), Election (1999), About Schmidt (2002), Sideways (2004), The Descendants (2011), and Nebraska (2013).

Thankfully, his newest triumph is no exception. Re-teaming with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti, the feature is at once indie and art-house while simultaneously being mainstream and easily accessible, simply told, it’s a genuine crowd-pleaser.

Working from a screenplay by David Hemingson, this Christmas-themed gem doesn’t hold back on the drama, delivering a thoughtful blend of comedy and a touch of romance, all wrapped around a very raw, human plot-line that virtually everyone can relate to. At its core, the story follows a simple coming-of-age formula, enriched by complex character development that reveals more depth as relationships form.

Sure, it not wholly unique due to its adherence to the era’s tropes, but the thoughtful character writing, note-perfect performances and pacing make it an engaging journey. Bursting with sharp laughs and searing sweetness, along with being affable and earnest, this one could well be a strong contender for upcoming awards season.

Beginning in December 1970, the story follows Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), an unmarried classics history teacher at Barton Academy, a well-to-do boarding school in New England, who is disliked by students and fellow faculty due to his strict, uptight attitude and fearless attitude to continue his mission to prioritize fairness over financial sway. As an unsaid punishment for failing a student belonging to a political background, he is forced into being the adult tasked with overseeing the holdover students who have nowhere else to go over the Christmas period.

Though there are initially five holdovers, but after a certain development, the only one left behind is Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a smart yet rebellious teen whose recently married mother does not want him on her honeymoon. The pair are left alongside Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), the school cook who is facing her first Christmas alone since her son died in military service, and the three create an unlikely unit. What occurs after is a slice-of-life style piece of cinema that allows broken people to find comfort in each other’s company.

Yes, the broad strokes of its premise might seem overly familiar, but it’s a film that slowly, carefully, and uproariously peels back the layers of its lead characters, yielding a meaningful comedy drama in the process. Here, director Alexander Payne employs a traditional 1970s style, drawing inspiration from classics of the decade. He excels at both the macro level, with well-controlled pacing and tone, and the micro level, using emotive group and one-on-one scenes to propel the narrative forward.

The ways in which the trio come together, apart and back together again are far subtler and less conflict- and monologue-driven than they could have been in the hands of a less talented filmmaker. There’s no makeshift family created here, just three lost people finding commonalities at what feels like the end of the world, hunkered down at a snowy New England school as everyone else enjoys what’s allegedly the most wonderful time of the year.

The more intimately the characters get to know each other, the more we grow to know them as well, inside out, not only in ways that flesh out their drama, but in ways that make their quips and jabs practically self-evident, in the way one knows exactly what a loved one might say in a given scenario.

To make things interesting, through numerous circumstances born from Angus’s desire to escape Hunham’s leash, student and teacher are thrust repeatedly into various comedies of errors, including, at one point, a visit to the emergency room during which they become privy to each other’s hidden vulnerabilities. After a while, the harsh glares they reserve for one another begin to soften into looks of recognition.

Their scorn turns to curiosity, and eventually to care, though it’s a hilariously bumpy road, with Hunham’s verbose history-talk clashing constantly with Angus’s more direct and pointed jabs. To make things better, levity is infused throughout with a soundtrack alive with rousing or winsome songs.

Performance wise, Paul Giamatti brings his A-game, convincing as a certain teacher, easily judged from afar but with unseen vulnerabilities close up. Here, Giamatti is completely in his comfort zone playing the kind of grumpy old middle aged man who might be mocked by the young and hip. Newcomer Dominic Sessa nails a complex first role, confidently going toe-to-toe with his more experienced co-stars, a believably petulant teen in search of something to moor him.

Nevertheless, Da’Vine Joy Randolph‘s Mary is the heart of the film, doling out advice to Hunham and comfort to Angus. A shot of her tipsily reminiscing at a Christmas party, thinking of her son as an Artie Shaw record plays, and a brief scene where she unpacks her son’s baby belongings are both shattering, enough to secure her a best supporting actress nomination come next year. Carrie Preston too delights in her supporting role. On the whole, ‘The Holdovers’ is a delightful coming-of-age dramedy that is beautifully shot and acted.