Release Date – 19th January 2024, Cert – 15, Run-time – 2 hours 13 minutes, Director – Alexander Payne
Forced to stay at the boarding school he teaches at to look after kids with nowhere to go at Christmas, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) finds himself forming an understanding with a particularly troublesome student (Dominic Sessa).
“Adversity builds character, Mr Tully” Paul Giamatti’s Paul Hunham tells one of his smartest, yet most troublesome, students after the wider class fails a key exam he’s set just before the Christmas break. It’s a break that he and Dominic Sessa’s Angus Tully will be spending together when the ancient civilisations (he makes sure people know that he doesn’t teach history) teacher is placed on duty for looking after the students with nowhere to go at Christmas.
Tensions are already high between the pair after Angus’ family leave him alone at the last minute, and are uncontactable when all the other remaining students find a way to spend the season elsewhere. Everyone present, including school cook Mary (a standout Da’Vine Joy Randolph) who recently lost her son in the Vietnam War, is closed off and distant. It’s with these kind of characters that Alexander Payne has long best succeeded. Even more so in creating warmth as they gradually come together.
There’s a strong heart shown to the characters in their respective isolation and pain. While one struggles to control his emotions and the other guards himself behind a curmudgeonly persona Mary acts as something of the midway between the pair – further pushing the strength of Randolph’s truly excellent, awards-worthy turn. All three performances are great and have their tender touches, particularly the quiet subtleties of Giamatti’s turn. As the trio gather together for Christmas dinner the moment is simply allowed to exist as it is. The hesitancy drops and the characters slowly draw together to be less alone on that day, and not just for the sake of not being alone.
Natural human relationships are at the core of the film. Effectively stemming from David Hemingson’s screenplay which is scattered with sharp, witty lines of dialogue – Giamatti gets a plethora of hilarious insults throughout, at one point referring to a restaurant as a “fascist hash-foundry”. You buy into the developing bonds on-screen, perhaps propelled by the warm wintry tones of the closing days of the year.
Yet, while there’s humour from the initially distant relationship between Paul and Angus, Payne manages to bring out the more emotional beats and elements of their natures. Overtime, while humour is very much still present but with different focuses instead of a new style, you grow closer to them; feel their disappointment, sadness and even loneliness. There’s a very considered nature to the ways in which their written and performed, pushing the details further and making for an even more engaging character-led piece. One which makes for a simple, unflashy depiction of humanity. Distanced figures coming together when they most need an extended arm. The Holdovers extends such an arm of understanding to both the characters and the viewer.
Consistently funny and filled with warmth, The Holdovers shows Alexander Payne doing what he does best with three brilliantly performed characters coming together amongst emotional pain and isolation, it’s a welcome arm of human understanding.
Just A Little Bit Random 