The Holdovers (2023)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
One of the best movies of 2023, Alexander Payne’s new film is truly something special.
Paul Giamatti is at the top of his game, Da’Vine Joy Randolph emerges as one of our finest actors, and newcomer Dominic Sessa is a tremendous discovery.
Moving, memorable, funny, and bittersweet - The Holdovers is one of those films you love to discover and then share with others.
NO
There is no mistaking that the film has elements of sadness and an overall bittersweet taste - the balance of humor and emotion may be too jarring of a tonal shift for some viewers.
Among those who have criticized the film indicate they find it “preachy” and “smug.” Not at all my experience, but it is a take among some who have seen it.
Where some see fully written characters, others can see cliché. I mean, the film has near unanimous acclaim but if you don’t buy into the characters or like Payne’s approach, this movie may ring hollow for you.
OUR REVIEW
Reuniting for the first time since 2004’s Sideways, Oscar-winning writer/director Alexander Payne and Oscar-winning actor Paul Giamatti are at the height of their abilities with The Holdovers, a bittersweet, warm blanket, cozy pajamas, cup of tea kind of movie that is as charming as it is disarming, featuring characters showing their flaws and heart in equal measure.
Not only does The Holdovers bring us characters who feel real and authentic, as well as a film gorgeously oriented to the snowy haunts of an east coast winter of 1970 (thanks to impeccable production design by Ryan Warren Smith), we find ourselves invested with three main characters from vastly different walks of life.
Refreshingly, Payne’s film is full of compassion, care, and understanding. Those traits of compassion and understanding may not be the first things which come to mind when considering his cinematic output. Election, Sideways, and The Descendants are among his films which, subjectively, do not lack for emotion but also proudly brandish a definitive cynicism and acerbic wit.
The Holdovers feels a bit different though.
Set at a private boys-only boarding school known as Barton Academy, we meet grumpy, irascible high school history teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti). He delights in skewering his students with cutting, scholarly arrogance. In one early sequence, he gleefully slaps down composition books, with bold red Ds and Fs quickly splattered around the class. The groans are loud, the students panic. One student, 17-year-old Angus (Dominic Sessa), survives with a B+.
Angus is looking to meet up with his mom and new stepdad in St. Kitts for Christmas, an island getaway in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, Barton’s kitchen supervisor, Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), is grieving the first Christmas spent without her son Curtis, a Barton alum who recently died at 19 years of age while serving in Vietnam.
Fate will bring these three together. Paul is tasked with overseeing “the holdovers,” students who have to stay on campus during winter break. When Angus’ mother shockingly cancels his trip, he is forced to join the other students who have no way home. When those students luck into an exit plan, and Angus has nowhere to go, he is forced to join Paul and Mary for the entirety of the next two weeks.
A film richly detailed in script and setting, you cannot help but get swept up in how cinematographer Eigil Bryld uncovers things. The camera casually shows us that all the teachers are essentially one and the same - middle-age stuffed suit white men. Mary seems to be one of a handful (if even that many) of the Black employees at the school. There also is a notable lack of diversity in the student population - a fact that makes Mary’s son’s death even more impactful in its meaning to the overall story being told.
Some have called Payne’s latest effort melancholy and glum. To be fair, loneliness is usually devoid of side-splitting humor. As a result, the film’s ability to be consistently funny is a wonderful surprise, thanks to an outstanding screenplay by David Hemingson.
The main performances are each tremendous - a triangular blueprint of personalities which fit together perfectly. Giamatti is caustic and irritable, quick to weaponize a know-it-all demeanor by spouting minutiae from world history as a defense mechanism. A sputtering engine of a human being, he is almost firing on all cylinders, as his put-downs and barbs are delivered with the ease of a hot knife slicing through butter.
Randolph is the heart and soul of The Holdovers. She is equal parts steely resolve and determination, also carrying a fragility that is as heartbreaking as it can be inspiring. In one powerful moment, her son is revered and remembered at a sermon, only to then have the pastor immediately ask God to protect all soldiers at war and hope that they will all be brought home safe and sound. A heartwrenching moment, Mary swallows hard and moves along, as we process the significance of a subtle but powerful moment.
In his acting debut, Sessa is a discovery. Easily holding his own with his two co-stars, and the weight and gravity of this material, he effortlessly transitions from young ego and bravado to that of a broken young man looking for answers to some incredibly complex family dynamics. Together, Giamatti and Randolph elevate Sessa’s work in early scenes until he carries a pivotal moment in the film where his defiance brings truths to light that he, and we as viewers, may not be properly prepared for.
Payne and Hemingson impressively avoid melodrama and over-the-top grandstanding. We feel these words. We feel these emotions. We want more of them. Though an air of sadness hangs over the proceedings, The Holdovers finds a way to keep us smiling and laughing throughout, adept in balancing genuine humor and emotion with some instantly quotable lines.
Wearing its heart firmly and proudly on its sleeve, Alexander Payne has delivered one of the best movies of 2023 - a film you will love to discover and share with others.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston, Gillian Vigman, Tate Donovan, Andrew Garman, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Darby Lee-Stack
Director: Alexander Payne
Written by: David Hemingson
Release Date: October 27, 2023
Focus Features