After a brief derailment with his last film, Downsizing, Alexander Payne is back in the territory he excels in: human comedy with a touch of pathos. Enlisting his star from Sideways, Paul Giamatti (in a performance that is like watching Miles from Sideways, 20 years later), the movie is set around the holidays in 1970 in a New England prep school.
The title refers to prep school students being left at school during the winter holidays, as their parents and siblings go on elaborate ski trips or tropical vacations. But this is not "Home Alone in a Prep School." Giamatti is a Mr. Hunham, a serious-minded history teacher who is at odds with the administrators because he gives deservedly failing grades to slacker students who happen to be children of rich donors to the school. With his pipe, sarcasm, and dry wit, it is a role tailor made for Giamatti (Payne has mentioned that if Giamatti turned it down, Payne would not have made the film).
Along with Hunham and the students is the grieving head cook at the school (wonderfully played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph), mourning the recent loss of her son in Vietnam. She and the teacher form a bond over the holidays, one that is tested when Hunham takes her and the most troubled student being "held over" (played by Dominic Sessa) on an impromptu trip to Boston.
As the case with About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants, and Nebraska, all of these characters are colorful but relatable. Hunham is forced to make a choice near the end of the movie that will challenge the future of his career. Although this is a long movie, it does not feel that way, since the dialogue is so witty and the scenes are so beautifully shot (a scene in a candlepin bowling alley in Boston sticks out in particular).
Downsizing had a commendable idea but strayed off into strange sci-fi and fantasy land. The Holdovers is the type of movie made for its director and stars and will stay with you for days.
The title refers to prep school students being left at school during the winter holidays, as their parents and siblings go on elaborate ski trips or tropical vacations. But this is not "Home Alone in a Prep School." Giamatti is a Mr. Hunham, a serious-minded history teacher who is at odds with the administrators because he gives deservedly failing grades to slacker students who happen to be children of rich donors to the school. With his pipe, sarcasm, and dry wit, it is a role tailor made for Giamatti (Payne has mentioned that if Giamatti turned it down, Payne would not have made the film).
Along with Hunham and the students is the grieving head cook at the school (wonderfully played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph), mourning the recent loss of her son in Vietnam. She and the teacher form a bond over the holidays, one that is tested when Hunham takes her and the most troubled student being "held over" (played by Dominic Sessa) on an impromptu trip to Boston.
As the case with About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants, and Nebraska, all of these characters are colorful but relatable. Hunham is forced to make a choice near the end of the movie that will challenge the future of his career. Although this is a long movie, it does not feel that way, since the dialogue is so witty and the scenes are so beautifully shot (a scene in a candlepin bowling alley in Boston sticks out in particular).
Downsizing had a commendable idea but strayed off into strange sci-fi and fantasy land. The Holdovers is the type of movie made for its director and stars and will stay with you for days.