Barton men are the best of the best. In upstate New England lies Barton Academy, a prestigious all-boys private school with loads upon loads of history from its genesis to present day 1970. One of its alumni, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) teaches a history classics class, and has developed quite the reputation for being an unforgiving hardass. His belief is that these young men have been given every advantage there is in life, but it’s no excuse for them to skate by in his course.
One of his students is the sharp-tongued yet smart Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), who is ready for the upcoming Christmas break with plans in tow to visit Boston alongside his mother and new stepfather. Sadly, those plans fall through as his parents decide to finally do their honeymoon. That leaves Angus as one of “The Holdovers,” a group of five students who are unable to go home for the long recess for whatever reason. This year, Hunham has drawn supervising responsibilities. At least they’re getting fed by the head chef, Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who is dealing with her own personal issues. Being cooped indoors with people you don’t want to be around is a terrible fate, but maybe there’s a silver lining at the end of it all if they can just make it to the new year.
The adjectives of nostalgic, comforting, warm, and similar verbiage has been used to describe The Holdovers. They are apt descriptors as The Holdovers is all of those things. But it’s also extremely moving without being overly saccharine by taking a balanced approach instead of a banal one with regards to storytelling.
It’s been over half a decade since one could say a film is directed by Alexander Payne. But after the unique swing and relative miss of Downsizing, his satirical leanings are traded in for straighter lines and a smaller scale. In many ways for this one, Payne feels like he’s intentionally diminishing his presence; for only the second time in his career he’s not writing something he’s directing. That can be a good thing every now and then, and Payne’s attention here seems to be oriented towards accentuating the story and recreating a vibe literally and figuratively with worn-in saturation, grain usage, and frequent editing dissolves, helped by assistance from cinematographer Eigil Bryld. You can feel the stuffiness—and toastiness—from the first scene on. At minimum, he’s created a movie that’ll surely find a place in future holiday rotations for many.
It may be surprising to discover the script for The Holdovers is penned by an individual who had no prior film features to his credit, but writer David Hemingson uses his lived experience in Northeast prep school to create a story featuring a visible destination, but not before surprising reveals around his three main characters’ journeys, all of whom are grappling with their own trauma by putting up barriers. It’s a good example of how knowing the “where” can exist separately from the “how.” The heart of the script comes gradually and understated; rarely does it show up in obvious points in the plot, but the scene after, often in dialogue delivered nonchalantly whether in a car, liquor store, or neighborhood bar. The Holdovers spends slightly too much time on characters who are inconsequential on their own after 40 minutes, but their inclusion is important to funneling the story to its eventual destination, as well as fleshing out and differentiating Tully from his peers.
And speaking of Tully, it’s an impressive debut for Sessa, who is asked to hold his own with a perfectly-pitched Giamatti (who is hilarious physically and verbally while still creating a well-rounded character) in many scenes and land the plane solo in arguably the film’s most sobering moment. Bright things ahead. The other sobering moment belongs to Randolph, soft-spoken, world-weary, and hanging on by a thread, but also the person who has the most reason to be jaded and yet still leads with compassion and understanding. There’s reason to believe all three have great shots at receiving prominent nominations.
As Paul Hunham said while thinking about past events that got him excited: Curl your toes! With a great direction but an even better script and acting, The Holdovers comes together at a fitting time of the year to be christened as one of the year’s best.
A-
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The lead acting in this movie is top-notch to be sure. For me, the film was a little more dramatic and less comedic than I had hoped for. I thought there was “more to mine” out of the scenario presented. The ending also wasn’t as uplifting as I’d hoped for. That being said, Paul is absolutely awesome in the lead and I think everyone should see it for his performance if nothing else. In the end, very glad I saw it at the theater and I do get it being on folks’ best-of-the-year lists.
I really dig the ending because I do think there’s glimmers of hope and new beginnings for all despite the ambiguity one person finds themselves in. I really did feel it was perfectly balanced with humor and drama, maybe with a more pronounced lean near the end towards drama naturally but I think the film was building towards it.
Thought this was wonderful too. Hunham has to be one of Paul Giamatti’s best roles.
Sorry for the delay on this man, WordPress is weird on my end with commenting for some people. Easily one of Giamatti’s best roles on multiple levels comedically and dramatically.
Yeah this is happening with me as well. I am also finding that I have to keep logging back in to my account just to comment on other sites. When I thought I am already logged in by being able to see my dashboard? it’s bizarre.
I really enjoyed this. Director Alexander Payne has a finesse for creating lightly humorous films that mix a dark cynicism with unexpected warmth.
I wish Focus Features had given this more of a chance to make money in theatres. It finally went fully wide on Nov 22, then went to VOD a week later.
Agreed – though I can’t say I’ve been in the theater frequently of late – getting somewhat caught up on award likely movies through screeners. Maybe a mid Nov release date would have worked better with more marketing now around its holiday nature.
But this a great movie and a great holiday movie nevertheless in short order.
Great review! I also adored the movie. I could relate to its personal depictions of teachers. Here’s why:
Good review! And agree wholeheartedly about teachers. Hunham definitely isn’t perfect and he grows through the movie, but you can’t doubt his commitment to taking his role seriously. Made him likable and earnest.
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