Movie Review: The Holdovers

Every year we are presented with an onslaught of holiday movies trying to become perennial favorites, often completely misunderstanding what it is that makes some films so enduring and opting to just hit viewers over the head with rote romance or gross-out comedy. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying those movies, plenty of us do, but after watching them once do you really feel the need to see them again (and again and again)? In The Holdovers, director Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, Sideways, Nebraska) and writer David Hemingson (Kitchen Confidential, Just Shoot Me!) seem to have understood the assignment, gifting us a small-scale, bittersweet dramedy made up of endearing but broken people that somehow maintains an appealingly chill and pleasant vibe throughout.

It’s December of 1970 at New England’s Barton Academy boys’ boarding school and most of the students and faculty are getting ready to return home for Winter break. Every year a few kids are forced to remain on campus for a variety of reasons, and this time it falls on professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) and cafeteria administrator Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) to stay behind and care for them.

Giamatti revels in the role of the ornery teacher who is disliked by most of the students and staff for his hidebound methodologies, and it is a treat to watch as his character becomes aware that he perhaps could have had more success at his stated goal of preparing his pupils for the outside world if he’d been a little less rigid in his views. Da’Vine is also wonderful as Mary, a woman who is understandably tired by life and all the pain it’s thrown her way, but who can’t help but care about the well-being of others.

Newcomer Dominic Sessa is a great find as troubled student Angus Tully, who had expected to head on Christmas vacation with his mother and stepfather but is abandoned to the school at the last minute. It’s hard to believe the Cherry Hill native has never been in a movie before as he is a natural and more than capable of holding his own against his better known castmates.

The Holdovers isn’t the most traditional of Christmas movies, but it still has a lovely message about found families and the ways in which opening ourselves up to others can lead to immense healing and personal growth. It’s hard not to maintain a grin watching this trio come to grips with their various demons, even though the movie does sometimes wring a tear or two from viewers and doesn’t shy away from heavy subject matter. There’s certainly a place for escapist fluff, perhaps this time of year most of all, but there’s also room for this kind of smart storytelling. Payne and Hemingson have really tapped into something special here, and I can see many viewers adding this to their regular seasonal rotation. ★★★★★