THE HOLDOVERS – Review

We just finished that spooky holiday and now we (mostly the retailers) are gearing up for the big two end-of-the-year family holidays. And if you’re at school and far away from family you’re looking forward to taking a break from academia to reunite with those loved ones. But what if that’s not possible, and you’re stuck for a couple of weeks with your least favorite teacher? That’s the premise of this dramedy, which is a cause for celebration for film lovers. That’s because it’s the latest directorial effort from a filmmaker who has been delighting us for over thirty years now. And for a little extra treat in our stocking, this reunites him with an actor who has been quite a scene stealer in supporting character roles. Well now, he’s front-and-center along with a talented acting duo as the the trio that’s forced to bound over Christmas and into New Year’s as THE HOLDOVERS.

It’s a very chilly snowy 1970 December on the campus of the prestigious Barton Academy, an elite prep school for boys in the New England area. All the students are “psyched” for Christmas break, especially fifteen-year-old Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa). He’s one of the better scholars, but he has a knack for getting into mischief. Although he gets passing grades, he still manages to “get under the skin” of prickly curmudgeon Dr. Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) the loathed teacher of ancient civilizations. And the dean at Barton is not too happy with him as he didn’t give a ‘pass’ to the son of a wealthy school donor. Therefore Hunham will stay on campus during the break to supervise the students with nowhere to go for the holiday. Then Tully suddenly finds himself in that group after his mother informs him that she’s planning a belated Winter honeymoon with her new hubby. And then the group of “holdovers” is “whittled down to three when a rich papa whisks away four students in his private copter. Their parents were called and gave the “OK” while Tully’s couldn’t be reached. So he’s “stuck” at school with Hunham and the cafeteria supervisor Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) who recently lost her only son in Vietnam. So, is there any way this threesome can get along and make these holidays happy?

Oh welcome back Mr. Giamatti, it feels as though your excellent work on the Showtime series “Billions” has kept you away from the big screen far too long. Happily, you’ve gifted us with a superb performance as the reviled teacher mockingly called “Walleye”. He could have easily become a caricature of the scholarly dictator cartoonishly ruling his classroom with an iron fist. Mind you, we get a bit of that in the opening sequences as he gifts his charges with a “lump of coal” wrapped in homework, but Hunham is more complex than that. His hard exterior doesn’t obscure his longing spirit as Giamatti shows us that this surly misanthrope yearns for a human connection, as he tries not to drown in a sea of regret and remorse. One of the few staffers he reaches out to is Mary, played by the compelling Ms. Randoph. Her no-nonsense kitchen queen also puts up a “tough front”, not wishing to be pitied for her heart-wrenching loss. Randolph shows us that Mary has found another wounded soul in Hunham. Much of the same can be said for the “tossed away” son played by screen newcomer Sessa who uses a snarky wiseguy attitude to mask the hurt abandonded child inside. With his Pop “out of the picture”,, Tully needs a family connection to his mother who appears to toss him aside for her new beau. And Sessa shows us how this fuels his rebellious behavior with Hunham. Sessa’s best moments are when he strains against his mentor as he tries to charge into adulthood (his flirtation with a local girl is charming and a bit “cringe”). These three powerhouse actors provide a strong foundation for the film.

But it all might collapse if it weren’t for the superior “architect” behind this story, the engaging filmmaker Alexander Payne working from David Hemingson’s smart and sensitive (and very funny) screenplay. The two expertly recreate that “transition time” as the radical 60s eased into the go-go 70s. Helping considerably is the authentic sets (all real places), art direction, costuming, and grooming (wow, those helmet-like hair haircuts of the day). This is first and foremost a Payne project as we become involved with these offbeat characters, but it’s also a warm homage to the directors of that period as the whole movie has the feel of lauded director Hal Ashby (especially THE LAST DETAIL with the trio at the center of a journey), mixed with a touch of James Bridges’ THE PAPER CHASE and assorted other school-set dramedies. The atmosphere seems so real as we can almost feel those cold dark paneled floors as the characters tromp through those long empty hallways. And again, Payne gets the best out of his cast, rivaling his last collaboration with Giamatti nearly twenty years ago with SIDEWAYS. There are no flashy camera techniques or staccato editing, merely (though it’s oh so rare) assured storytelling abetted by superlative performances. THE HOLDOVERS is a true cinematic holiday gift for movie lovers everywhere.

4 Out of 4

THE HOLDOVERS is now playing in select theatres