We’re less than a month into 2024, and the year is already off to a great start for cinematic releases. Last week I waxed lyrically about Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone’s new comedy Poor Things. This week I am pleased to discuss the festive comedy-drama The Holdovers.
The Holdovers sees director Alexander Payne reunite with the wonderful Paul Giamatti. The pair previously worked together on 2004’s Oscar-nominated comedy-drama Sideways. That movie received multiple nominations including in the Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress categories. The Holdovers received its European premiere at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival. It has also received a tremendous amount of critical acclaim, having won three Golden Globes recently, as well as earning five Academy Award nominations.
Despite being a Christmas movie, The Holdovers was released in the UK and Ireland on January 19, 2024. This baffling marketing decision by distributor Focus Features feels like a cynical move to capitalize on its status as an awards season favourite. Despite the bizarre timing of the film’s release, it is nonetheless a brilliant piece of cinema that deserves all the hype and praise it has received.
Set in December 1970, The Holdovers sees Paul Giamatti play Paul Hunham. A classics teacher at Barton Academy, a prestigious New England boarding school he attended as a teenager. Paul’s students and colleagues alike despise him due to his prickly character and rigid following of the rules.
After costing the son of one of Barton’s wealthy donors a spot at Princeton, headmaster Dr. Hardy Woodrup berates Mr. Hunman. This punishment forces Paul to supervise “holdover” students i.e. those students unable to return home, over the Christmas holidays. One of these students is Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa). Angus is forced to stay at Barton after his mother cancels a planned family holiday to St. Kitts. This is so she can instead go on a honeymoon with her new husband. Also staying at Barton over the Christmas holidays is cafeteria worker Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Ms Lamb has recently lost her son, a former scholarship student at Barton killed in action during the Vietnam War.
Paul initially takes his frustrations out on the students by imposing a strict schedule upon them. However, the unlikely trio eventually bond over the holidays and begin to open up to one another. This leads to them taking a life-altering “field trip” to Boston via the nearby Roxbury.
The Holdover’s greatest asset is its incredible cast. Paul Giamatti in particular is outstanding as argumentative teacher Paul Hunman. Despite portraying an at times argumentative character, Paul Giamatti gets to flex his comedic chops in the role of Paul. This includes one scene early on where Paul is arguing with one of his students over the grade they have received. The student – Teddy Kountze – points out they can’t afford to fail this class. This leads Mr. Hunman to retort back “Oh, don’t sell yourself short, Mr. Kountze, I truly believe that you can”. Paul Giamatti also gets to do a bit of slapstick comedy as well, most notably in a hilarious scene where he is chasing Angus after he attempts to stage a daring escape via the school gym.
While there are a lot of laughs from Paul Giamatti’s portrayal of Paul Hunman, there is also sadness to the character as well. Mr. Hunman’s behaviour throughout the first half of The Holdovers points to someone who has become bitter, disillusioned, and lonely. While some of the put-downs he directs at his students are genuinely funny, he treats his pupils with total contempt.
Mr.Hunman is risk adverse and lonely. Paul’s fear of taking risks is best exhibited when he takes Angus to a local bar, where they’re served by one of Paul’s fellow teachers Ms. Lydia Crane. Ms. Crane invites the pair to her annual Christmas party. Despite having obvious chemistry with Ms. Crane, Mr. Hunman’s fear of rejection prevents him from telling her how he feels. In this instance, this unwillingness to express his feelings works out for the best as we learn Ms. Crane already has a boyfriend. Nonetheless, it speaks to Paul’s feelings of loneliness.
Serving as a counterpoint to the bad-tempered Mr. Hunman is Angus Tully. Angus is a troubled and rebellious teenager, and it is implied has been kicked out of several other schools. Despite this rebellious streak, he is highly intelligent and is afraid of being kicked out of Barton and ending up at military school. Dominic Sessa’s is brilliant in the role of Angus Tully, and he gets to deliver some withering put-downs that are every bit as scathing as those made by Mr. Hunman. Sessa also gets to show his talent for dramatic acting as well. These moments occur mainly during the final act of The Holdovers, where we learn more Angus’ home life. Dominic Sessa’s ability to perfectly juggle light-hearted comedy with drama is remarkable, especially considering this is Sessa’s acting debut.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph is also a highlight of The Holdovers as cafeteria worker Ms. Lamb. While Ms. Lamb gets the least screen time of the film’s three main characters, Da’Vine Joy Randolph makes the most of her limited screen time. Ms. Lamb’s character provides viewers with a powerful commentary on the American class system and the social politics of the 1960s/1970s era United States. At one point in the movie, we learn that Ms. Lamb took the job as a cook to get her son a scholarship at Barton Academy. This storyline allows viewers to get an insight into how African-American males were unable to escape the Vietnam War draft regardless of academic ability, unlike their wealthy white counterparts.
The other great strength of The Holdovers is how timeless it feels. Director Alexander Payne has made a film that feels eerily period-accurate in its depiction of the early 1970s. There is a gritty, grainy quality to Eigil Bryld’s cinematography throughout The Holdovers. The attempt to make The Holdovers look like period-accurate extends to the film’s opening title card. The film opens with a redesigned version of the Miramax and FOCUS FEATURES logos. These redesigned logos look like they could have come straight out of 1974. It’s little touches like these that greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the movie.
The Holdovers is a beautiful and bittersweet return to form for director Alexander Payne after 2017’s disappointing Downsizing. With its gentile pacing and three outstanding performances from its three leads, The Holdovers is a throwback to another time in the history of cinema. It is also a film that feels destined to join Todd Haynes’ Carol as a modern-day Christmas classic.