The Holdovers

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Tate Donovan
Directed by: Alexander Payne
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Comedy
2023

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An unpopular professor (Paul Giamatti) and a difficult student (Dominic Sessa) are forced to stay at their prep school over the holidays.

Review:

Tim: I've never been a huge Alexander Payne fan. I can respect what he seeks to do, but the tone and characters he usually focuses on tend to grate on me through the course of his films. He seems to have gotten better with age, as I thoroughly enjoyed The Descendents and Nebraska, and you can add The Holdovers to that list. This film still has some of Payne's usual flaws, but it's an introspective, interesting look at several broken characters who find some solace and healing in each other's company (of which they despise). It's the kind of comedy/drama you expect from Payne, but maybe just slightly more mainstream.

The central theme is a solid one- at an elite boys' prep school, a cantankerous history professor, a rebellious student, and the school's cook are forced to spend the holidays together. These three people couldn't be more different and under ordinary circumstances, wouldn't willingly spend any time together. This is the most brilliant part of the movie- anytime we see people from wildly different walks of life forced together, those exchanges are always intriguing. As you might expect, none of the three remain unchanged due to their interactions with the others. As I started the movie, I didn't really care for any of these characters. In typical Payne fashion, they're broken, eccentric, grating. He's not interested in likable characters and each of these individuals has deep flaws. As the film progresses, you do begin to identify with the characters more. With greater understanding, you start to develop a deeper appreciation for them and you feel some level of emotional connection. This is where Payne most shines as a director. It's a slow boil- the movie is probably too long, at 2 hours 13 minutes- but that extra time allows him to subtly shift our feelings toward these characters. How we feel about them at the end is markedly different than the beginning. That's a huge directorial accomplishment and high praise for Payne. That's really the movie in a nutshell. We don't really like these characters at first, but once we get to know them, they become significantly more sympathetic. That's true in this movie and it reflects a reality of life, too.

The cast certainly helps accomplish this. I loved the re-teaming of Payne and Paul Giamatti (from Sideways). These two seem to bring out the best in each other. Giamatti is a national treasure and I loved his willingness to embrace this cranky, grating character. He's a bit over-the-top at the beginning, but Giamatti grounds his more extreme characteristics in his underlying humanity. Giamatti is a tremendous actor with great range and I was so impressed with how he brought this memorable character to life. The lazy eye certainly helps (and major kudos to the team responsible for pulling that visual off), but it's Giamatti's exceptional talent that delivers a performance where he disappears into this character. It never for a second feels like he's acting. I was so happy Giamatti was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor- that recognition was well deserved. He has a strong partner in Dominic Sessa. Sessa's performance is uneven at times, but taken as a whole, is surprisingly effective for an actor on the younger side. He plays well off Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph. He's such a jerk at the beginning, but Payne and Sessa navigate through that and help us to truly understand this character as the film progresses. Sessa's work is solid and it makes the movie work.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her performance is really good- she conveys a wide range of emotion and subtly influences the film in big ways. I do wish she had a tad more screen time- she's firmly in the #3 spot behind Giamatti and Sessa. However, her performance is more than convincing and it's so enjoyable to watch her huffing, sharp-edged character who has suffered so much, yet has an incredible heart. She's quietly the most normal character in the film, which is saying something.

Randolph's win was the only Academy Award success for this film. It was nominated for Best Picture (that's a bit much), Best Original Screenplay (I can absolutely see this one), and Best Film Editing. 5 nominations and 1 win isn't bad for this film and it should certainly be celebrated. For me, I enjoyed The Holdovers and I'd consider it one of the stronger movies of 2023. I don't think it's memorable or emotional enough to be considered one of the best movies of the year. Payne's approach to movies always feels like such a burden. This movie is too long and too meandering, too slowly moving. He eventually gets to where he wants to go, but it feels like such a lift to get there. This movie might be slightly more watchable than many of his others and the idea of revisiting it holds some appeal. However, even in one of his more accessible films, it still retains a hint of inaccessibility. Payne seems to want to delve so deep into flawed and borderline unlikable characters that you almost have to take slow, deep breaths before diving in with him. For me, a new Payne film is greeted with some excitement and some trepidation. The Holdovers is definitely one of his better films, though, and while I wouldn't quite call it "great" (so I differ from most critics), it's still a resounding success.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Descendents, Sideways, Nebraska, Dead Poets Society