REVIEW: ‘The Holdovers’ Is the Not-So-Typical Holiday New Film You Need This Season
The Holdovers, directed by Alexander Payne (Downsizing, Sideways) and starring Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa, is the hilarious antidote to those not wanting a typical sugary bundle of film cheer this holiday season. Let’s face it: the holidays are not always perfect, and what better way to celebrate than with a down-to-earth, heart-tugging, and relatable story? This not-so-typical ’70s holiday film is filled with laughter by this trio of quirky but lovable characters, which touch on some emotional subject matter that is compelling yet does get a bit heart-wrenching at times.
Written by David Hemingson and produced by Mark Johnson p.g.a, Bill Block, and David Hemingson, this unconventional new film follows an instructor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) at a New England boarding school called Barton, in 1970 who has been left to tend to students over the holiday break. This medley of students aren’t able to travel home, or their parents simply didn’t want them back for a break and are forced to stay on the no-frills school property through the holiday season while all the other students are at home and cozy for the season.
One geeky yet excelling student, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), whom the instructor takes a familial interest in, is left behind solo when a jet-set parent airlifts out some of the students at the last minute. Outside of some custodial employees, they are joined by the school’s cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) as these three seemingly unlucky loners discover that they all have more in common than they initially believe.
Set in 1970, the film’s look and feel will give some of those who know the time period, all the feels, with its vintage look from costumes, production, location, and even down to the grainy film techniques used. You feel transported into the decade with blanketed snow, a bit of holiday buzz coming from the townies, and the occasional glimpse of the sad Christmas tree that Paul’s character can salvage at the last minute because the school tree was sold back when everyone departed for winter break.
This same pitiful, woe-is-me humor is littered throughout the entire film, which will have you laughing out loud, especially at veterans Giametti and Randolph, as well as new face Dominic Sessa, who makes his debut freshly plucked from high school for this role.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph is dynamic on screen as she handles her character Mary Lamb and her waves of emotions when we learn her son, who was a student at school, has passed away in Vietnam, and she is stricken with grief. Dominic Sessa’s character also has deep grief he’s dealing with when we see his mother taking on a new husband and proceeds to cancel the St. Kitts vacation plans, not blinking an eye as her son is left in an empty school to fend for himself over the holidays. Paul Giamatti stars as the unmarried loner who seems to take pleasure in challenging his students with his demands for perfection, only for viewers to discover that he’s anything less than perfect himself and has a few skeletons in the closet.
The three come to find that in all of their inner loneliness, family problems, and mental health challenges, they are more alike than they are different, and the hilarious way they make the revelation will have you laughing out loud. Isolation is a major theme and challenge for this trio, but nothing that a few road trips, some alcohol, a trampoline, an ER visit, and a holiday party or two can’t solve. Despite the film having an isolated cast, there was a richness to the characters with a complementing score and incredible sound that enveloped you in Barton with sharp and witty humor from the cast that kept you engaged and interested in how these characters pan out. The Holdovers is a bittersweet story that was extremely well written and directed and will have you in your feelings with these relatable characters.
Focus Features and Miramax’s The Holdovers is currently playing in theaters nationwide.
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