Rent The Holdovers (2023)

The Holdovers review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

It’s so easy for the Christmas season to be a crowded time of year, especially for movies set around the holiday season. There’s always this firm desire to adhere to commercialism, condemn how the holiday has lost its way, or dabble in that childhood wonderment of Christmas magic. The Holdovers plays like a refreshing break from all that madness with an intimate dose of character drama and comedy that feels like a throwback picture beyond merely taking place in the 1970s.

It helps that the character of Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) comes off as a likable guy despite him being framed as the teacher that students and faculty hate at the all-boys academy. He’s a teacher of ancient history who prefers to keep to himself during the holidays but also gives out firm grades despite the complaints of his students and how the administration staff would rather he bend to the budget. It probably doesn’t help that he has a lazy eye, is out of shape, dabbles a lot in the drink, and has a distinct smell of fish to his body odor. He’s not all that enthused to be the one chosen for being part of looking after the holdovers, the students who get stuck on campus over Christmas break.

Paul makes the best of it with the holdover student Angus Tully and the grieving chef Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph). While Paul gets along well with Mary, considering they both enjoy booze, smoking, and chatting at night, he is at odds with Tully. It’s a bit surprising considering that Angus is one of his best students, even if that means he’s the only one in his ancient history class who can muster a B. While they clash over adherence to school rules and whether or not Angus can have a beer, they slowly connect with each other as the teacher and student view more of their own humanity and fears. All three central characters have this lingering anxiety of becoming losers, uncertain of the future.

The trio of this film is so broken and loveable that my heart ached for them to find so many of those golden moments of making connections. While Mary has a stoic nature to how she gets over the loss of her son, she’ll also get drunk enough for the loss to hit her harder, especially after revealing the loss of her husband. Paul has a cantankerous attitude but turns into a nervous wreck around a woman he might fancy or a former colleague who has soared past him in success. Angus has the rebellious streak of a teenager, but good reason to be bitter about the people who raised him. Throughout the film, we find there’s more to the characters than they care to admit, including a unique discovery of medications that is kept to a quiet understanding. There’s a similar moment of silent acceptance when Mary brings herself to move on in the hardest way without uttering a single word.

Alexander Payne finds just the right way to film the unfolding drama from trauma and the comedy that comes off effortlessly. There’s a laidback way to how the film presents the snow falling amid the gentle rock soundtrack, yet the film is edited in a progressive manner that rarely wastes a moment. He finds the perfect chemistry of characters and sweetness that feel more genuine than artificial, where there’s no danger of melodrama or hokey platitudes about the spirit of Christmas. This is a Christmas where a student and teacher can bond over something as unconventional as showcasing erotic artifacts or making cherries jubilee in a parking lot.

The Holdovers cast a spell on me that made me feel so good by the time the credits rolled. It’s movies like these that not only remind me of why I love film but also remind me of the earnest humanity in the world. No matter how bad things can get in life, somebody else has just as bad a day as you. You don’t need to mock them or stress the magic of the holiday; they only need a sympathetic ear and someone to share a drink with, maybe lighting a firecracker off in the kitchen for a little excitement.