The Holdovers

The Holdovers

A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.

  • Released: 2023-11-10
  • Runtime: 133 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Drama
  • Stars: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston, Gillian Vigman, Dustin Tucker, Bill Mootos, Paul Giamatti, Dan Aid, Colleen Clinton, Brady Hepner, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Andrew Garman, Naheem Garcia, Stephen Thorne, Tate Donovan, Alexander Cook, Liz Bishop, Cole Tristan Murphy, Will Sussbauer, Carter Shimp
  • Director: Alexander Payne
 Comments
  • Kirpianuscus - 29 June 2024
    well crafted sketches
    I saw it being myself History teacher, recognizing simmilar situations , maybe more complicated in 2024 than in 1970 ,and being seduced by what can be just called real cinema.

    I saw to myself few times - I am Paul Hunham.

    I admired the great performance of young Dominic sessa and I loved the job of Da Vine Joy Randolph.

    The story is simple and admirable crafted. In some measure, it can be considered a good pretext for beautiful acting, smart dialogue, the atmosphere of impressive high school and precise definition of main characters as an embroidery of vulnerabilities.

    A film about loneliness and a kind of comradery as a sort of fake- authentic, for short period, imposed by circumstances, family. And splendid end, like wise exploration of not very comfortable themes.

    The performance of Paul Giamatti is, not surprising, just splendid. And the virtue of The Holdovers , and this makes it special, is to offer , impecable crafted, sketches of significant questions to viewer. In short, just great. Especially for precise dose of truths.
  • Benjamin-M-Weilert - 7 June 2024
    An expertly acted and perfect period piece.
    Ever since The Descendants (2011), I've appreciated the family dramas that Alexander Payne has brought to the big screen. After loving Nebraska (2013) and ignoring the mistake that was Downsizing (2017), I was ready to give another chance on The Holdovers (2023). I'm pleased to report that I think this film is his finest to date. Not only does it have a heartfelt story, but the way it was filmed made it truly feel like a movie from the 1970s was unearthed and brought to life through modern actors.

    The story itself isn't particularly original. A disliked teacher at a boarding school has to stay with the kids whose parents did not pick them up for Christmas break (the titular "holdovers"). However, the acting of the leads made it a joy to watch. It felt like The Dead Poets Society (1989) with the smart dialogue of a Tarantino film. Paul Giamatti stands out with his fantastic performance, which was merely lifted by similarly spectacular performances by Dominic Sessa and Da'Vine Joy Randolph. The amount of character growth and tough decisions all three go through in this film is enough to recommend it on that merit alone.

    Having seen a lot of films in my life, it astonished me how well Payne mimicked the style of films from the 1970s. For most period pieces, the trappings of the era are the only thing the production designer considers. Cars. Clothes. Colors. Here, in a movie set during a time that had its own cultural identity in film, we see the emergence of a truly period piece-one that looks and sounds like it was made in the same era as its subject. I certainly hope Payne continues to make movies in this way, because it really adds depth to the immersion.

    An expertly acted and perfect period piece, I give The Holdovers 5.0 stars out of 5.
  • TYContact1 - 19 May 2024
    Back to basics: meaningful characters and a touching humourous story that keep us engaged
    Hopefully there will be more movies like these going back to cinema:

    * a self contained complete story at movie length that ties in loose ends- a refreshing ending without post-credits or franchise spawning cliffhanger (-__-)

    * on screen chemistry among cast members makes the characters more interesting to watch their mutual understanding develop over time

    * each character has their own strengths and flaws so it's more relatable when they reconcile their differences as they learn more about each other's back story

    * at a modest budget, the production did well in conveying the story settings and time period. A story well told proves less is more.