[Rating: Rock Fist Way Up]
Now in theaters
As an elementary school teacher, one of the biggest requests from administration is to build relationships with the students. Learn to understand who they are, build trust with one another and then working together in the classroom will be a breeze. I personally sometimes see myself talking to my students as if I see them as young adults. I am however nowhere near the level of sarcasm and wit as presented by Paul Hunham in Alexander Payne’s newest film The Holdovers. A student, a teacher and a cook spend one unforgettable Christmas together and share in the shenanigans of a crazy thing called life.
It is December 1970 and Barton Academy, a prestigious all boys school in New England, is its boys home for the winter. Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is a no-nonsense professor who almost relishes in the misery of his students. He is assigned duty to watch over the boys staying for the Christmas holiday (the holdovers) with nowhere else to go. This includes Angus Tully (newcomer Dominic Sessa) whose plans change, forcing him to spend the holiday with a man he despises. Four other boys also stay the break, but are whisked off by fellow classmates once they are given permission leaving Hunham, Tully and Barton’s head chef Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) to fend for themselves. Mary is going through her own personal battles of spending a Christmas without her son who was killed in Vietnam, but makes the best of it with the bickering student and teacher. Together, the trio learn to really learn about one another. Hunham is an asshole with reason. Tully is an asshole with a family that makes him that way. Mary copes with her son’s death in a way only she wants to understand. This Christmas changes these three for the better and makes them walk in one another’s shoes.
I loved The Holdovers. My heart swelled with The Holdovers. The Holdovers was a perfect start to the Christmas movie season. Giamatti is a top notch actor. He was made for the role of Hunham. Yes, he’s an asshole, but one with heart. Think of him as a modern Scrooge who learns a little bit of human decency over burgers, beer and whisky. I loved every second of him talking and his human emotions to things around him. Sessa and Randolph’s characters almost feel the same, but with the obvious background and age difference. I wanted to give them hugs from the screen and Randolph’s somber moment at a Christmas party is going to stay with me for a while.
I’m usually a curmudgeon with Payne’s films. I’m either loving them right off or taking a while to warm up to them. The Holdovers had an instant love. Maybe it’s because Payne isn’t at the helm of the writers seat (that belongs to David Hemingson whose own life story is blended into the character of Tully) where some of my pain of Payne comes from, or maybe it is just how damn likable Giamatti is in this. The 70s vibe really got to me too. Payne gives us the feel of being at the tail end of 1970 without forcing it to feel too fake in 2023.
Learn to walk in others’ shoes because you’re going to find great things. This is why I love being a teacher because I get to walk in 26 shoes everyday and each life story I get to know provides great learning. The teacher becomes the student after all and the students learn to be teachers. Circle of holiday ho-hum!
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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