The Holdovers (Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph) – Almost 20 years ago, writer/director Alexander Payne collaborated with Paul Giamatti on the celebrated “little” film, Sideways. Payne’s successes include Election, About Schmidt, The Descendants and Nebraska, garnering six Academy Award nominations. He won Oscars for Adapted Screenplay for both Sideways and The Descendants.
The Holdovers reunites Payne and Giamatti in a harmless, old-fashioned tale about a cranky prep-school teacher who gets stuck with babysitting duty with the students who are stuck on campus for Christmas vacation at the end of 1970. Giamatti has always been a remarkably versatile, “everyman” character actor who can helm a leading role in small, independent films like this. He did just that in Win Win, Barney’s Version, and Duets, all of which are sleeper gems. But he has also played successfully as ensemble player in big-budget movies like The Ides of March (with George Clooney), The Negotiator (with Danny Glover), The Truman Show (with Jim Carrey), Man on the Moon (Carrey again), Cinderella Man (with Russell Crowe), The Illusionist (with Edward Norton), and dozens more. On TV, he starred as John Adams (with Laura Linney) and, most recently, Billions (with Damian Lewis).
He reminds me most of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman (also featured in The Ides of March). For both, if they were better looking, they would probably be among the most popular American actors of their generation. Incidentally, they were born the same year, 1967.
The Holdovers is another perfect vehicle for Giamatti. Playing not-so-beloved professor Paul Hunham, Giamatti is sanctimonious, stuffy, traditional, and quick-witted. As Christmas break approaches, he almost joyfully delivers failing grades to most of the students in his ancient history class while urging them to study over the break in order to re-take the exam with different questions. The entitled students who attend this exclusive all-boys prep school range from nice kids to jerks.
One of the smartest is a troubled, smart-mouthed teen, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), who is looking forward to his trip to the Caribbean until his mother calls to cancel his trip even though she is going with her new husband. Angus’ father is gone, and he feels doubly abandoned. Now, he must stay at the school with a few other kids and this professor who he loathes. When the other boys find a way out of town, Angus, his professor, and the head cook of the school are stuck together on the big campus. De’Vine Joy Randolph, most familiar to viewers as the cop on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, plays Mary Lamb, the sharp-tongued, chain-smoking cook who recently lost her son in the Vietnam War. She is alone, alone and grieving.
It would have been easy to let this story morph into a maudlin, feel good, Hallmark Christmas movie, but Payne is too good for that. Instead, the plot dives deep into the three characters, uncovering their broken souls. We then get the obligatory road trip, the warming winds of friendship, and an ending that might not be totally predictable.
As with most Payne films, the box office results are lower than the critics’ enthusiasm. For movie lovers, this is a leisurely, but satisfying, holiday flick featuring excellent acting and an engaging story.