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The Holdovers – Movie Review

The Holdovers movie poster

the holdovers movie review 2023 (via Primetweets)

Alexander Payne has been accused of looking down on his characters in films like “Election,” “Citizen Ruth,” and “Nebraska.” I’ve often found this criticism to be a little shallow but understandable given the goofy personalities that dominate those films and the line between finding people entertaining and mocking them. I bring this up because his latest, “The Holdovers,” contains not a scintilla of this element of his career. On the contrary, he loves these people. You can feel it in every frame, every line delivery, and every plot choice. And in an age of increasing cynicism, I think a lot of people will love them too.

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Payne bounces back from the disastrous “Downsizing” by reuniting with the star of arguably his most beloved film, “Sideways.” Paul Giamatti gets his richest part in years as Paul Hunham, a brutal professor at the prestigious Barton Academy in the early ‘70s. (Payne joked in his intro that he’s been basically making ‘70s comedies his whole career so he figured he’d finally set a film then.) Hunham is generally disliked by students and staff, although a colleague named Lydia (Carrie Preston) does make the grumpy old man Christmas cookies. When Hunham isn’t handing out failing grades and assignments over Christmas break, he’s yelling at students for the slightest infractions. He’s one of those guys who doesn’t have too much power in his life, so he uses it belligerently, leaving him few friends.

Every holiday break, a few kids have to stay over instead of going home, which requires a lonely man like Paul to keep an eye on them, even assigning schoolwork because that’s really all he knows to do. Through a series of events, the holdovers this break end up being pretty much just Paul, a student named Angus (Dominic Sessa), and the head cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). They’re three people at very distinct chapter breaks in their lives, but they will influence each other in a way that’s heartwarming and genuine. David Hemingson’s script is about those wonderful turns in our lives when a stranger can shift us off in a new direction that we hadn’t considered, and how they can come long after we think we’re done adjusting. It’s got some undeniable clichés, but Payne and his crew find a way to make the life lessons feel organic, refusing to build their dramedy on predictable plot twists. After all, this one is about the unpredictability of life.

If Hunham is the reluctant father figure of this trio, Mary is the mother, a grief-stricken woman who has just lost her son in the Vietnam War. Randolph is understated and moving, finding the weight of grief. Without melodrama, it just looks like it’s harder for her to move through the world. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a kid, but I believe it would make a lot of days feel like quicksand. On the other side of the table, Angus is a 15-year-old with razor wit but the kind of belligerence that comes with uncertainty. His parents don’t want him over the holidays. He’s not sure where he goes after Barton. It could even be to Vietnam. To say that he reaches out to Hunham for guidance would be an exaggeration, but these two initial enemies start to understand one another. Hunham is a man who starts to examine how he got here through the friendship of a young man examining where he’s going.

All of this doesn’t capture how consistently funny “The Holdovers” is from beginning to end. Payne leans into Giamatti’s irascibility in the early scenes in ways that are hysterical, and that make it more powerful when those walls start to fall. Randolph doesn’t get many laughs but knows how to nail a punchline when she’s given one. The real stand-out here is Sessa, who starts off a bit one-note but really develops as the film does too. This is a breakthrough performance, one of those acting turns wherein it feels like you’re watching a future star. He has the energy of both a leading man and a quirky character actor at the same time. You know, how it felt like more people did in ‘70s comedies, when charm and relatability were key, but idiosyncrasy wasn’t a crime. He would have been a star then. He will be one now.

Hollywood has a long history of stories of “makeshift families that learn something” but then why does “The Holdovers” feel so fresh? It’s probably just because it’s been so long since there’s been one that felt this true. Payne and his team recognize the clichés of this life lesson, but they embed them with truths that will always be timeless. Everyone has that unexpected friendship or even mentorship with a person who forever altered their direction in life. And everyone has that young person who has shocked them out of their own stasis, either through revealing what they have become or what they have failed to be. “The Holdovers” is a consistently smart, funny movie about people that are easy to root for and like ones we know. And its greatest accomplishment is not how easy it is to see yourself in Paul, Angus, or Mary. It’s that you will in all three.

This review was filed from the premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.It opens on October 27th.

The Holdovers movie poster

The Holdovers (2023)

Rated R
for language, some drug use and brief sexual material.

133 minutes

Cast

Paul Giamattias Paul Hunham

Dominic Sessaas Angus Tully

Da’Vine Joy Randolphas Mary Lamb

Carrie Prestonas Lydia Crane

Gillian Vigmanas Judy

Dan Aid as Kenneth

Colleen Clintonas Mrs. Cavanaugh

Dustin Tuckeras Professor Rosensweig

Bill Mootosas Professor Endicott

Director

  • Alexander Payne

Writer

  • David Hemingson

Cinematographer

  • Eigil Bryld

Editor

  • Kevin Tent

Composer

  • Mark Orton

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