Rent The Holdovers (2023)

He Might Be Grumpy By You'll Enjoy His Company. - The Holdovers review by Strovey

The holdovers is so, so, much like the 1970s films I used to catch on BBC2 on Saturday night as a teenager when everyone else in the house was out. The only thing missing was a young Bud Cort playing the pupil. Now this might seem like a humble brag about my film opinion credentials but it has to be said the makers stuck up a faux AA film certificate and seventies logos for Miramax and Focus Features so you are sort of given the biggest clues possible. I must say that director Alexander Ryan and writer David Hemingson have hit that nostalgic nail squarely on the head.

We are not getting anything earth-shattering in what we see as the story unfolds but it is familiar, it is made very well and happily familiar. Touching, funny and poignant in equal portions as you watch you know what is going to happen, how Giamatti’s character is going to evolve along with Sessa’s and probably how things will end. The joy of the whole film is getting from point A to point B. Even at over two hours in the running, it was worth it.

Paul Giamatti’s character Hunham could easily be a parody, or very pantomime like but it is to his credit, his skill, as an actor that even at the beginning you can sympathise with him, even though he is being an arse. Likewise, the impressive ‘newcomer’ Dominic Sessa holds his own against Giamatti and never tips over into stereotypical. Da'Vine Joy Randolph’s Mary is the glue that holds the tale and indeed the men together as she suffers unbearable sorry with dignity and a few home truths. Even Sessa’s argumentative and unappealing classmates are portrayed well on the screen alongside the two more pantomime-like villains, the parents and the headmaster. Everyone you see seems to be on their A game and that has to be a testament to Ryan’s skill as a director.

The Holdovers as a story will not be hurried along and for the first hour we are getting the groundwork for the finale. Sometimes this can be tiresome but in this filmmaker and cast’s hands not so.

With spoiling anything, as in real life, what you see is not necessarily what you get and people can and will do things you do not always suspect.

The seventies locations in Maine and Boston are perfect, apparently on location the real winter set in and the snow you see is genuine. Everything about the film says 1970s without forcing it down your throat unconvincingly.

Truthfully I could watch this film again right off the bat and everything about it was enjoyable, the cinematography, the directing, the acting, the writing, all fun and very touching. Paul Giamatti is on top form here closely followed by his fellow cast.

Highly recommended.

Payne hits with this simple character focused story with heart - The Holdovers review by Tommy

For me, of course my own opinion, this should have won the best picture Oscar. And it had an argument for every category it was nominated. This simple and perhaps stereotypical, even predictable, story and it's characters succeeds in all the right ways. It has everything in good, old cinema. The characters drive the plot and push the themes. The whole feel of this film is what is lacking in cinema. I'm not of the opinion that films aren't good anymore, or that films were better years ago. Partly because i am still younger in age and because i think i am fair in my judgement. But The Holdovers is refreshing in it's nostalgia and homage to the 70s era. The cinematography is incredible. It looks like a 70s film. It feels like a 70s movie.

It is about empathy in the best way, in a positive way. To some empathy may be a bad word, it is not and another conversation, perhaps. This focuses on characters who drive the story. The script slowly reveals their inner pain and with each other they find something, not just to get them through the week, but also something to keep for the future. Hope, memories. Something they may not have had previously or had at the school.

It has everything along the way. Laughs and tears, literally. They clash of course. Particularly student Angus Tully and teacher Paul Hunham. Obviously. And this is a careful story that patiently glides along but within the first few scenes we see, with both of these characters, good and bad. Annoying and likable. We see Paul's infuriatingly stubborn and strict teaching style and personality. We see Angus' rebellion and his own stubbornness as well as his smart and kind character. Paul rips into his students and doesn't let them get away with much. He insists on respecting the rules and traditions of the school and it's curriculum but when the students show disrespect and entitlement he doesn't let it slip. He cares when he seems not to but seems to have little in his own life. Something Angus can relate with. Mary the cook and grieving mother also stays for the holiday. Randolph won an Oscar for this and to be fair she deserved it. Again nothing original or new but like the film she performs the role perfectly. There is a high drama and emotional scene but it sits well in the film. It hits as it should but it also doesn't last for an age. The flow of the film is perfect. There are farcical moments of drama and humour but they're not out of place. Each scene is there for the purpose of character development and to encourage the themes. Simple and obvious, sure. That's why it's good. It's so well directed and edited.

There are similar films in premise but why is that important? This is one the best films i've seen. Certainly of recent years.

Gentle fell-good gem - The Holdovers review by Alphaville

Well-written, warm-hearted tale of a teacher, a troublesome teenage boy and a cook forced to spend Christmas together at a 60s US prep school in 1970. Such a set-up sounds stagey and boring, but in the hands of director Alexander Payne it’s a beautifully observed, study of human nature – sweet, sad and funny – that hooks you in until you don’t want it to end.

Beautifully made film - The Holdovers review by RW

This film is a masterpiece of film making; from the acting to the cinematography, it oozes class. A*

OK, but inferior to Sideways - The Holdovers review by Darius

This film has the same director (Alexander Payne) and leading actor (Paul Giamatti) as Sideways, as well as using some of the same background music, but to me it was not nearly as absorbing or moving. I watched it until the end and the plot and acting were passable, but it didn't leave much of an impression on me, lacking the humour (and scenery) of the earlier film.

A quiet little film with acting in it - The Holdovers review by NL

The central character is a type we have seen in film and literature many times: the teacher not loved by the others at his school, nearing the end of his career. Think of Goodbye Mr Chips, or The Browning Version. The acting is very good, the period 1970s look is professionally achieved, and so we have a well-crafter film of the sort that film critics love to give awards to. For the general film-going public, though, a bit more incident is needed. Nothing very much happens. This is realistic, and not all films should have car chases and explosions, but no film is going to be loved by the public unless it has a really good bit in it, and there is no stick-in-the-mind good bit in this. Instead, it is just a slow march of character arc, heading towards some low-key redemption resolution and roll credits.

Sharply Written Comedy Drama - The Holdovers review by GI

A melancholy comedy drama with great performances and a fantastic recreation of 1970, not only in films milieu but also in the presentation as a cinematic event. Set at Christmas of 1970 in a prestigious boys boarding school in Massachusetts dominated by the son's of wealthy parents who live on the privilege that their parents money and standing provide. This is seen by curmudgeonly and cynical teacher Paul (Paul Giamatti) as a symptom of a decline in character and learning of the pupils he teaches. As the school closes for the holiday Paul is selected, due to is having no family, to remain behind with the boys who cannot return home. He resents this but is resigned to it and intends to maintain a ritual of discipline and teaching as if it's just a normal school time. He finds he only has Angus (Dominic Sessa), a bright 17 year old student with attitude and behaviour issues, and the school cook, Mary (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), for company. Mary is black and has submitted to the casual racism of the WASP world of the school in order to get her son a place there but he has been killed in Vietnam and she suffers from her grief. Inevitably the close proximity of these three characters moves them to bond but not in a saccharine type narrative as you'd possibly expect. There's the pain of their emotional exposure with each other that involves sacrifice and redemption. This is a sharply written film and benefits from a second viewing and it cleverly diagnoses the rifts in American society that resonate today. A film that may feel ponderous at times but it manages to make you feel by the end that you've watched something very interesting and quite profound.