OSCARS 2024: The Holdovers (2023)

You know how the saying goes: One day you're up, the next you're down. This is especially true in Hollywood, where – to employ another literary cliché – you're only as good as your last picture. Alexander Payne, it's fair to say, has been well respected most of his career. Edgy, smart comedies like “Citizen Ruth” and “Election” would draw attention, Payne getting his first Oscar nomination for the latter's screenplay. Each of his subsequent films would be nominated for at least one Academy Award, Payne winning two statues for “Sideways'” and “The Descendants'” screenplays. Then came “Downsizing,” a critical and commercial flop. People in Hollywood also have short memories, which can work in filmmakers' favors some times, so Payne came back with last year's “The Holdovers.”  With it, came the warm reviews and awards recognition that usually greets his pictures. I'm generally a fan of the director so I've got some thoughts on this one.

The time is 1970 and the place is Barton Academy, a prestigious prep school in New England. Paul Hunham is an ancient history teacher widely despised by his students, due to his strict nature. As the Christmas holiday approaches, Hunham is chosen to chaperone the handful of students staying over. Among them is Angus Tully, a bright but sardonic young man resentful of his parents and unpopular with his classmates. After a rich kid's dad picks most of the group up in a helicopter, Angus is left alone with Hunham and Mary Lamb, the school cook whose son was recently killed in Vietnam. The trio form an unusual friendship, learning much more about each other, as one year comes to a close and another begins. 

From its opening minutes, “The Holdovers” announces its fidelity to an older tradition of American cinema. It begins with the seventies Universal Studios logo, a vintage MPAA tag, and a classically styled version of the Focus Features intro. Right away, this lets us know that “The Holdovers” is a homage to the quiet, character-driven dramedies of the early seventies. A folk-driven soundtrack, which includes at least one Cat Stevens song, suggests “Harold and Maude” was a big influence. A certain degree of grain is added to the film, while the cinematography is exactly the type of deep, spacious, warm visuals that invoke the long-passed decade. This extra step allows “The Holdovers” to capture the feeling of the early seventies more-so than simply a fitting needle drop or old-school fashion. 

Aesthesis, no matter how perfectly they may be captured, will only take you so far. Luckily, “The Holdovers” has the substance to back up its style. This is, more than anything, an exploration of loneliness. Paul has a medical condition that gives him an unpleasant body odor, a lazy eye, a past full of mistakes that cost him a more prestigious career, and seems to be a bit of an alcoholic. All of this and more is probably why he's a prickly asshole. Angus has a similarly sardonic personality, a chip on his shoulders, and a fear that he's destined to become his mentally ill father. Mary Lamb is so deep in her mourning that she's reluctant to connect with others. The film expertly observes how loneliness is formed by circumstances outside of people's control and their own reactions to what they've lived through. It doesn't preclude empathy – as seen in a touching moment when Angus comforts another holdover who had an accident in bed – but it does inform how humans act.

Of course, these three do form a makeshift family of sorts as they get to know each other. As cliché as this development may be, “The Holdovers” approaches it in a careful and touching manner. That the characters are so prickly make the comforting interactions they have with each other more meaningful. Mary's heartbreak, over the loss of her son, is so touchingly portrayed in scenes where she feels alone at a party or lays her pain out for Paul. The banter between the boys is sharp, funny, and well observed. The many long conversations between Paul and Angus slowly establishes what they have in common and their differences, the two warming up to each as they see their elements of each other in themselves. It's the kind of well-observed comedy and drama that feels real and lived-in.

Helping make these characters even more realized is an incredible cast. This is exactly the kind of  role Paul Giametti was made for. The grouchy Hunham gives him plenty of acerbic dialogue to sink his teeth into, which Giametti is excellent at, of course. Yet he's also skilled at making such characters lovable in spite of themselves, causing the premise of an asshole with a secret golden heart, all the more earned in the touching final act. Dominic Sessa makes his cinematic debut as Angus. Reminding me a lot of a young Brad Dourif, Sessa has a distinctive attitude as a performer, while also being able to project a certain vulnerability. I think this kid has a future, for sure. Da'Vine Joy Randolph is so warm as Mary Lamb, while also wearing her broken heart right on her sleeve. She's the whole movie in microcosm, a deeply lovable human being hidden behind a wall of hurt that is all too reasonable. 

In other words, “The Holdovers” is really good. Gorgeously photographed and assembled, it's the kind of unlikely holiday faire that I love. Its snowy setting and often ironic use of Christmas standards goes hand-in-hand with the way it embraces an honest humanity. A film built upon wonderful actors creating personable characters, it has laughs and lots of heart without ever being shmaltzy or overly sentimental. [8/10]