The Holdovers
FOCUS FEATURESThe Holdovers is a film that seems wholly unexpected in 2023. Aside from its period setting (the 1970s) and a throwback ratings bumper before the credits (complete with film scratches and crackling audio!), it harkens back to releases that were common around twenty years ago. Films about smaller stories. There were smaller casts. Smaller budgets, too.
There was also something about wayward, curmudgeonly middle-aged men reckoning with their relationships and a need to reform. Back then, stories like this were a dime a dozen and often critically acclaimed – from Curtis Hanson’s Wonder Boys to James L. Brooks’ Oscar-winning As Good as It Gets. Decades later, it’s surprising how much The Holdovers fits into that mold while also being a breath of fresh air, setting it apart from the three-hour spectacles and recycled IP that has vied for audiences’ attention this year.
The set-up is simple enough. Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is the most difficult and least liked teacher at the Barton Academy boarding school, so it’s no surprise he is assigned “babysitting duty” for the boys remaining there over the holidays. His resentment about it is clear, but he can’t wriggle out of it. “At least pretend to be a human being,” the headmaster cautions him with a sigh. “It’s Christmas.”
Among those staying behind are the skeleton crew of cafeteria worker Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and janitor Danny (Naheem Garcia), as well as several unlucky students. Among them is the troublemaking Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), who not only proves to be a challenge for Paul, but just as smart and resentful. Whenever the two spar, the one-liners land like a sharp slap to the face, making it easy to assume they deserve each other.
But, of course, there is more to these characters than what we see at first glance. It’s clear that Paul has disdain for everyone he works with except for Mary, with whom he has a friendly and respectful rapport. It’s revealed that Angus is reacting to unspoken troubles at home as well as the threat of military school. And most importantly, Mary is shouldering one of the most devastating losses imaginable: the death of her twenty-year-old son. His absence hangs over certain scenes in the film whether he is acknowledged or not.
The Holdovers could have played it safe and simply been a feel-good comedy about the holidays, but it doesn’t. The plot takes some unexpected turns and detours into difficult territory, in some cases foiling expectations. One remarkable sequence takes turns dwelling on close-ups of the leads, revealing three entirely different states of mind: anticipation, rejection, and a rush of unchecked sorrow. These emotions are unguarded and rough around the edges, quickly passing into silence. They aren’t addressed and the plot moves on.
In a way, that is what the film is about – moving on – although Paul and co. spend most of their time on the “snowy island” of the school grounds, reckoning with themselves, each other and the prospects of something new. The film runs a bit too long, but fortunately doesn’t overstay its welcome, before finding a place to land.
As for the cast, Giamatti brings a reliable mix of arrogance and pathos to his role that complements Sideways, his previous outing with director Alexander Payne. His Paul is a strange constellation of physical ailments, including hemorrhoids, a fishy body odor and a lazy eye, but becomes easier to understand as he reveals more about himself.
Likewise, Sessa’s Angus is more than the defiant smartass he presents himself to be, although definitely stumbling on his way to adulthood. But the real revelation in The Holdovers is Da’Vine Joy Rudolph as Mary, creating a character that is effortlessly interesting without having do very much. Like Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon, another film dominated by its white male leads, she still manages to say more with much less, sometimes in entire scenes without exposition or dialogue. She comes across not only as a fully formed human being, but someone who deserves her own story. Perhaps her own film. Long after the credits rolled, that didn’t go away, a curiosity about what will happen to her next.