Released: 11th January
Seen: 17th January
Making an original Christmas film is an art that seems to be lost. Sure every year there’s the requisite retellings of A Christmas Carol that everyone tries to tell but an actual enjoyable film that captures a Christmas spirit is hard to come by. The last truly great one that I can think of might be Violent Night, which falls into that category of “What if we took something wholesome and made it say fuck while it bled out”, it’s just not easy to pull off but when you can make something that captures a very specific element of the Christmas season you get something kind of special, and The Holdovers definitely captures something kind of special.
The Holdovers takes place at Barton Academy, a prestigious boarding school where the grumpy classics professor who is a stickler for the rules, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) has been tasked with staying over Christmas to basically babysit the boys who haven’t been able to go home, AKA The Holdovers. Paul and the boss of the cafeteria, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) are the only two adults minding what starts as a half dozen kids but when most of those kids manage to find ways to get taken home all that’s left is Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a bright student who just has never properly applied himself. With no one else around, this trio has to do what they can to make the most out of their current situation.
The Holdovers pretty much won me over instantly when it decided to borrow the visual style and tone of a lost 70s dramedy and hold that style for the entire runtime. That one decision gave the film a timeless quality, like something that was just discovered in the back of a vault on some lot where someone went to clean up the negative and release it. Every minute of the film manages to maintain that vibe of a film that’s just always existed, there’s a sense of familiarity that allows you to just sink in and enjoy the nuances at work underneath everything. It quickly lets you into the world that’s been created so you can get to know and adore the main characters, all of whom are just so wonderfully well-defined and realistic that it’s easy to spend a couple of hours enjoying the holidays with them, even when the characters on screen aren’t enjoying each others company.
This isn’t one of those films that are really relying heavily on the visuals (though that 70s tone really is just so well done), it’s mostly a dialogue-heavy character piece and for that to work you basically need the actors to be on top of their game to make the lengthy monologues and rapid-fire quips and the core trio of actors are delivering performances that explain why they’ve been dominating this awards season.
Dominic Sessa is a legitimate find, a bona fide star in the making who manages to give the film a good sturdy central figure for everything to work around. He pulls back when the film needs to focus on one of the other leads but can also destroy your soul with a simple look and it’s heartbreaking.
Arguably Da’Vine Joy Randolph is the real star of the film, her warmth and charm just make everything feel better whenever she’s around and the little subtle looks she gives and her big emotional scene where the loss of her son finally gets to her is probably why she’ll be walking away with an Oscar next month.
Of course, if we’re being honest, The Holdovers as a whole exists almost entirely to remind audiences why Paul Giamatti is a fucking legend. He’s handed possibly one of the most easily hateable characters in film, a classics teacher who thinks everything else is beneath him and hates all his students. We’ve all had that kind of teacher at some point, we can all agree that they should all suffer some form of painful hemorrhoid that makes it impossible for them to ever be comfortable… So for Paul to take that character and make him into someone you end up genuinely loving within a matter of minutes and keeps you fascinated even when he’s making long boring digressions is nothing short of sensational. He’s funny, he’s hard to talk to, he’s got a warmth that he’s buried under as much forced coldness as he can muster and it’s completely compelling to watch.
Together this trio creates a unique and relatable found family, they share absolutely nothing in common and the amount of times they seem prepared to kill each other is immeasurable but there’s something about the spirit of the season that makes them work together. Sure they may throw brutal barbs at each other and be almost eager to get the hell out of there but when the time comes to exchange awkward presents or have a Christmas dinner, there’s a special kind of magic that just happens and all the problems that might’ve plagued them vanish for that brief moment. The little scenes of the three characters bonding are always just intriguing because you can feel the tension in the air because none of them want to be there, but they’re making the most out of the situation and it’s charming when they do.
Honestly, charming is the easiest way to describe The Holdovers as a whole. It’s just a charming film that feels like it’s been here forever, a film that perfectly captures how the Christmas season feels for most people. It’s not bubbly and cheery the whole time, but there’s something about those specific few days that can provide a gentle lift. Thanks to the fantastic writing and brilliant lead performances by a small but mighty ensemble cast, The Holdovers manages to capture something very real about the season in a way that’s going to resonate with anyone who happens to catch it. It feels timeless, and fortunately that means it’s probably going to have quite a long shelf life so people can enjoy this one for a long time to come.
Movie Meister Reviews 