The Holdovers review: A quietly moving masterpiece
Review Overview
Paul Giamatti
10Da’Vine Joy Randolph
10Dominic Sessa
10Matthew Turner | On 19, Feb 2024
Director: Alexander Payne
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston
Certificate: 15
Director Alexander Payne reunites with Sideways star Paul Giamatti for this superbly scripted teacher-student drama that’s styled like a lost movie from 1970. As such, it’s quite possibly Payne’s finest film to date, a quietly moving masterpiece with a trio of tour de force performances from its three co-stars.
Set in 1970 (ostensibly the year the film was made, if you pay attention to the Roman numerals on the title card), the film stars Paul Giamatti as classics teacher Paul Hunham, a cantankerous figure at prestigious Barton Academy in Massachusetts, who holds both overly privileged students and faculty in equal contempt. In order to punish him for failing a legacy student (thereby losing valuable donations from wealthy parents), the principal tasks Hunham (who lives on campus) with looking after the “holdovers” – students who are unable to return home for various reasons – over the Christmas break.
Through the intervention of a rich parent, the holdovers’ numbers are reduced to just one: grumpy smart-ass Angus Tully (newcomer Dominic Sessa), who’s less than thrilled with the prospect of spending Christmas with “Old Walleye”, Hunham’s nickname due to a lazy eye. However, the kind-hearted presence of grieving school cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) gradually softens the chip-on-their-shoulder attitudes of both Hunham and Angus and the trio form an unexpected bond.
It’s always a treat to see Giamatti in a lead role, and he’s on truly magnificent, Oscar-nominated form here. The way he gradually reveals Hunham’s deeply buried warmer side (along with his chequered history) is a wonder to behold.
Sessa is equally good in a remarkable debut, comfortably holding his own against Giamatti and delivering a performance that manages to find notes of sympathy even when Angus is at his most annoying. However, the supporting honours are roundly stolen by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who underplays beautifully and emerges as the beating heart of humanity at the film’s centre.
The script, by David Hemingson, is packed with delicious dialogue that is frequently laugh-out-loud funny, but it’s also beautifully measured and pitch perfect in its bittersweet tone. To that end, Payne resists moments of obvious sentimentality that multiple other directors would have indulged, and the film is all the more moving as a result.
The script’s tone is echoed in Payne’s exquisite direction. There are quiet moments – one in particular, involving a kindly fellow faculty member (Carrie Preston) – that are utterly devastating, and immeasurably more affecting for being so understated.
On top of that, the film looks gorgeous throughout, thanks to Eygil Bryld’s wintery cinematography, which makes the most of the school’s snow-laden exteriors. There’s also a superb score by Mark Orton, as well as a soundtrack of carefully chosen period appropriate numbers and some Christmas classics (quite why the film didn’t get a Christmas theatrical release in the UK remains a baffling mystery).
In short, this is one of the best films of the year, a thoroughly enjoyable bittersweet drama that is likely to gain instant classic status. And though Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar seems like a mortal lock at this point, if Giamatti doesn’t win Best Actor, there is officially no justice.