The Holdovers (2023)
Directed by Alexander Payne
Written by David Hemingson
Starring Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da'Vine Joy Randolph
Release Date October 27th, 2023
Published November 20th, 2023
The Holdovers is the story of three people trying to avoid discomfort, sadness, and reminders of grief and loss. It's a story that patiently and comically lays out the case that avoiding life is as painful or more painful than risking pain or sadness in the pursuit of something good. The trio of main characters in The Holdovers are cut off from the world physically and, more importantly, metaphorically as they'd like to avoid discomfort or wish that they could shape the world to what they want it to be. They will each learn that the world doesn't conform to anyone's will and that hiding from the world is not the answer.
Paul Hunham, a perfectly rumpled Paul Giamatti, is the most hated teacher at Barden Academy, a private school for very, very, rich boys. Hunham is openly contemptuous and hostile toward students who don't appear to take their learning as seriously as he does. Hunham doesn't appear to enjoy many things but he does relish openly insulting students who fail to meet his standard of excellence in learning. Oh but, Paul's contempt is not reserved for just the lesser students in his class. He has hate for school staff, fellow teachers, and for his boss, a former student of his who can't understand how Paul has remained at the school considering how miserable Paul appears to be at all times.
The plot of The Holdovers kicks in when one of Paul's fellow teachers schemes his way out of staying at the school for the winter/Christmas break. Thus, the duty of staying behind at the school and supervising kids left behind by parents and guardians, falls to Paul. Admittedly, Paul was going to be at the school during the break anyway, he doesn't have a life or home away from Barton. Monitoring the holdover students will also allow Paul to indulge in his dictatorial style of teaching even during a time when students are supposed to be on a break.
There are five students this year who have nowhere to go for the holidays. Among the five is Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a brilliant young man haunted by the ghost of his father. The other four students are soon shuffled off to a convenient trip with a generous parent but Angus is stuck as his mother is refusing to respond to repeated calls. Thus, we end up with Paul, Angus, and the school's head cook, Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph). Mary is grieving the loss of her son who was killed in Vietnam not long before the setting of this story in December of 1970.
