The Holdovers
One of the year’s best films and one that already holds up to multiple viewings, The Holdovers also makes a strong case for the top spot in director Alexander Payne’s impressive body of work.
Inspired by Marcel Pagnol’s 1935 French dramedy Merlusse and penned by veteran TV writer David Hemingson (Kitchen Confidential), the film re-teams Payne with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti in the service of slightly more mature drama than their prior merlot-free holiday, but, in classic Payne fashion, still makes room for copious immature humor.
The tonal blending, however, is what sets The Holdovers apart. Set at fictional all-male Massachusetts boarding school Barton Academy during winter break 1970-71, the film follows history teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti) as he’s comically and unjustly saddled with looking after the five students who aren’t able to spend the holidays with their families.
Aided by sustenance from school cook Mary (Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Only Murders in the Building), Paul keeps the sullen boys on a rigid schedule to hilarious ends, but when a surprise event significantly cuts down the number of players, the film’s focus shifts to Mary, Paul, and his student Angus Tully (talented newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and it’s all the better for it.
In arguably his most likable role since Win Win, Giamatti excels as a man stuck in his ways as a means of coping with a world that didn’t give him a fair chance, and Randolph, very much his equal, shines as a mother mourning the recent loss of her son Curtis, a Barton alum who — in a different unfair scenario — died in Vietnam.
Likewise the victim of bad luck, Sessa’s Angus hides his pain behind a veneer of sarcasm. And while it’s a treat to see the three actors flex their funny bones, The Holdovers also scrapes the barrel of the human condition with deep, relatable melancholy, yet always leaves room for some light, even if its just a twinkle from tinsel on a Christmas tree sitting on a cold, damp curb.
It all plays out in a thoroughly realized bygone world on visual and sonic levels, one where modern singer/songwriter Damien Jurado’s winsome voice and acoustic fingerpicking feel right at home alongside Herb Alpert, The Chambers Brothers, and Cat Stevens. The latter’s usage is almost certainly a direct nod to Harold and Maude, one of several ’70s films that The Holdovers echoes in its tone and generosity of spirit.
Augmenting Hemingson’s sharp dialogue is some terrific physical comedy, namely Giamatti’s gimpy running and sad Charlie Brown attempt to throw a football. And as with Payne’s best films — About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants, and Nebraska — it takes a road trip for the characters to truly bond and harness their best selves.
Similarly true to peak Payne, bad things happen to good people, but on the other side of heartbreak, a literal and metaphorical new day dawns, full of hope and more fulfilling times ahead. For cinema in 2023, few experiences have been as rich and rewarding.
Grade: A-minus. Rated R. Now playing at Carolina Cinemark, the Fine Arts Theatre, Grail Moviehouse, and Regal Biltmore Grande.
(Photo: Seacia Pavao/Focus Features)
