The warm, authentic 70s vibe emanating from this movie really is something. From the film grain, the lofi credits, the static camera with pan and zoom only, it really sells the aesthetic right from the jump and never lets up. On craft alone, The Holdovers is a worthy watch, but that would be a disservice to the melancholic-yet-heartwarming tale being told. While you could argue that the plot is one of trope and predictability, the warm blanket it provides is perfectly fitting, and offers just the right stage to explore these three unusual characters. A lovely story about connection and finding friendship in the unlikeliest people, The Holdovers is a delightful movie that I can't recommend enough, especially with it being the season and all.
Quintessential holiday classic…might just make it a yearly tradition. Giamatti masterclass
The beauty of Christmas is the inherent sadness that underlies the holiday. Whether it be due to the amplified loneliness during the season, or memories of the joys of Christmas past. It’s part of the spirit of this movie and it lends itself to the idea of finding your people when you need them most. It feels like it’s been too long since I watched a movie about people just connecting as people. I loved it.
I'm still mesmerized by how good this movie is! Unique! Sensitive! The kind that hugs you while it's happening and hugs you even tighter when it's over.
But it needed just one scene: years later, on Christmas Eve, Angus opens a present. The first edition of "Entre Nous", the dedication reads "to my nephew Leonard..."
This makes me miss 90s Alexander Payne. The Holdovers is a warm blanket film, and while it's one of the better films in that 'genre', I think it’s hard to argue for this being better than just fine. As per usual with Payne, its biggest strength is the (comedic) voice that's found in the dialogue, which is maybe surprising because he didn't write this one himself. The performances by Sessa and Giamatti are also really good, and I appreciate the effort of trying to capture the 70s through its filmmaking style. It's bound to become a new Christmas favourite because of the warmth and sentimentality, most of which is rightfully earned (he goes a little overboard with the score, but it's not a dealbreaker). I was thinking a lot about Dead Poet's Society when watching this, and the emotion here definitely feels more authentic by comparison. However, it just doesn't have much of a story to tell. There's not enough conflict or thematic depth to fill the overlong runtime here. The character dynamics, while not awful, feel familiar and safe. This leads to a problem that can be found in a lot of films like this, which is that filmmakers don't want to go to a place that's challenging or bold. The end result is recommendable, but if you'd take Payne's stamp out of it, this would be called out for being a schmaltzy Hallmark film.
6/10
Even though 'The Holdovers' is certainly a good movie, I don't fully buy into the awards hype. It's a bit too vanilla for that, and it plays it safe almost all the time. There are no real surprises because the plot develops exactly as expected. However, as a holiday film, the whole thing is at least wholesome, and it's certainly a good choice for the festive season.
The biggest plus points lie in the visuals. Not only is the movie set in the 1970s, but director Alexander Payne has also managed to make it look like it was made in that era. On an acting level, I very much agree with the Oscar nominations. Both Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph are quite good. Nevertheless, I can't fully go along with the high praise for 'The Holdovers'.
[8.9/10] A title like The Holdovers has a double meaning. On a basic level, it’s simply the technical term for the three individuals--a teacher, a student, and a kitchen manager--all spending their holiday break on the grounds of the New England boarding school they call home during the year.
But in a broader sense, it refers to people who have been left behind, who remain in some uncertain limbo not just in where they lay their heads, but in their lives as a whole. The nominal goal at the center of the film is for this trio of disregarded remainders to make it to the New Year without wrecking each other or the school. But its broader aim is to give each of them a direction, a connection, and something that jostles each of them from their different flavors of sad stupor and toward a reinvigorated purpose.
The results are, in turn, uproarious, heartbreaking, and ultimately moving. The Holdovers has its antecedents: from the locked-in mischief and camaraderie of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to the young man struggling with trauma a la Catcher in the Rye, to countless broader flicks about grumbly instructors warming up to rambunctious students. But there’s a greater depth, a clearer sense of open-wounded humanity, a distinctiveness in how its main players are formed and bounced off one another, that makes the film feel unlike any other.
It wouldn’t achieve that success without its triumvirate of great character and even greater performance. Paul Hunham could easily have been little more than a walking trope -- a stuffy and curmudgeonly civics teacher who’s hard on his students but betrays a hidden heart of gold. Instead, writer David Hemingson makes him more complex than that. Hunham is grumpy and hidebound before softening to this charge, yes, but he’s also a depressed drunkard, pessimistic about the world’s prospects for the future, with his dreams whittled down by the same forces that grind the other Holdovers, in various ways. Even that could have been a prestige picture cliche, but Paul Giamatti’s performance gives Hunham such spirit, and so many layers behind each grand pronouncement and reluctant, heartfelt compromise. Together, Hemingson and Giamatii make a broad archetype of a character feel achingly human, which is no small achievement.
Likewise, Angus Tully, the bright but trouble-making student unexpectedly left behind by his mother and inclined to rebel against Hunham’s supervision, could also have been a stock cliche. The recalcitrant but troubled youth who fights back against, but ultimately confides in their mandated caretaker is no less traditional a tale. And yet, again, the script doesn’t leave Tully as a one-note stereotype, but instead, gives him a cleverness, a sense of compassion, and a deep well of pain that makes him more than that outline. At the same time, twenty-year-old Dominic Sessa conveys the anger, hurt, and unassuming innocence of Angus to perfection. He cuts the figure of a young Alan Alda with both his snark and his sadness, and delivers a challenging performance for a young actor without stumbling once.
But it’s Da'Vine Joy Randolph--who plays Mary Lamb, the school’s head cook--that steals the show. Unlike Mr. Hunham and Angus, Mary is not the type of character you see much of in either these scholastic coming-of-age stories or prestige pictures. She is a black woman who works among the downstairs set in contrast to the mostly white, upper crust pupils and professors who reside upstairs. She is a woman bathed in grief, having lost both her husband and her son before they turned twenty-five. And most importantly, she is a full-fledged part of the film’s central trifecta, whose needs and concerns get the same attention and focus as her counterparts who are more often spotlighted in these stories.
Her inner life is potent and conspicuous. The things she’s feeling deeply at all times but never saying come through loud and clear amid Randolph’s powerhouse performance. She delivers the film’s signature scene, a furious, crestfallen, devastating lament in a suburban kitchen about the child and partner both gone too soon, with their absences all the more noticeable and piercing in what should be a season of joy. Like all the characters in the film, Mary is more than her trauma, with moments of kindness, levity, and insight just as memorable, but in a movie full of heart-rending monologues and stellar performances, Randolph takes the prize.
Despite the sense of hurt and alienation at the core of the film, The Holdovers is an unexpectedly hilarious movie. Angus’ antics to entertain himself and/or tweak Mr. Hunham have the shaggy whimsy of teenage rebellion. Mr. Hunham dispenses vulgar insults that tickle the funny bone, like “too dumb to pour piss out of a boot” and “penis cancer in hidden form.” The actors provide bouts of great physical comedy, from Angus’ disobedient gym floor flop, to Hunham’s ridiculous football-flubbing flail. And Mary has a dry wit that singes and can get a big laugh with a reaction shot alone. For a movie as unafraid to explore blunted hearts and lingering traumas, it’s full of humor and vigor that makes it come off like a fulsome view of life’s ups and downs, rather than a shameless tear-jerker or sap dispensary.
Nonetheless, there is a thematic undercurrent beneath all that pain and exclusion -- privilege. The recurring motif of The Holdovers is the idea that there are people who manage to wriggle out of the harshest obligations in this world, from schoolwork to plagiarism to war, because of power and position and the dishonesty and dishonor it can cover for. Some people go to Ivy league schools and get safe cushy jobs whether they have the intelligence or character for it, and others die in labor-intensive fields where worker safety is secondary to output quotas. Grades are inflated, service workers are casually demeaned, racism is tolerated, so long as it all comes from a class of people who don’t realize how lucky they have it.
The zenith of this is the Vietnam War, which hangs in the background of this seventies-set film. For all Angus’ legitimate issues, Hunham calms him down when he gets into a snit with a local missing a hand, since the teacher intuits how and why the injury happened. And the grandest injustice in the film is Mary’s son, sent off to fight and die in ‘Nam, when he had the grades, but not the funds, to go to college, denied the student deferment from the draft that would come alongside a university education. This sense of unconscionable disparity between the haves and the have-nots--one group excused from even the most minor of consequences for their actions, and one group forced to suffer the worst of them despite doing everything right--pervades the movie.
But it is also what unites Mary, Angus, and Mr. Hunham. Though thrown together by circumstance, and very different people on the surface, they find solace and understanding in one another, and it’s the most heartening part of the film. That comes through in the elegant cinematography of Eigil Bryld. The visuals of The Holdovers are not flashy, but they are quietly brilliant. Each frame is perfectly composed to convey the character of the grounds, or the ridiculousness of a gag, or the burgeoning intimacy that steadily washes over the main trio.
All three of them are touched by loss and loneliness. Mary still mourns her husband and her son, and is all but spit on by entitled twits who insult her cooking in a job she took to provide for a child who’ll never have the same life or opportunity. Mr. Hunham is, on his account at least, a low-level teacher, scorned by his students and his peers, alone in the wake of a long-since-failed shot at love, isolated and barely able to muster half-a-dream after being kicked out of Harvard for a privileged roommate’s intellectual theft. And Angus is abandoned over the holidays by a mother off to honeymoon with his new stepdad, a reminder of the mentally disturbed father whom he’s forbidden to see, and cursed with a parent in a state of living death -- physically there but mentally gone -- something all the more devastating for a young soul in particular.
So they share drinking problems. They share depression medication. They share flailing grasps for human connection that are reached for then rejected in a state of guilt and self-loathing. And eventually, they share a particular sort of bond that emerges from commiseration and acts of kindness, from recognizing one another’s pain and helping them through it, from seeing how the system works for others and stealing a piece of it for one another.
You can see it in the progression of “what Barton men do.” Angus lies about the cause of his dislocated shoulder to protect Mr. Hunham’s job, a falsehood the teacher accepts with some lecturing about honesty. Only then, Mr. Hunham lies to an old classmate about his career, reasoning that truthful or not, giving his social betters the satisfaction of his comparatively sorry state is not something he owes them.
And in the film’s close, when Angus’ mom and stepdad arrive to excoriate their son and his erstwhile babysitter for daring to let a lonely boy visit his father on Xmas, Mr. Hunham has an out. Angus’ guardians all but invite Mr. Hunham to throw Angus to the wolves, to say that the young man tricked him or “slipped the leash”, which would be half-true. Instead, Mr. Hunham lies in order to take full responsibility; he dissembles to excuse the young man entirely, sacrificing his job and the content-if-stagnant life he’s enjoyed for decades to save Angus’ future.
That is the crux of the film. The key message comes earlier when Hunham reassures Angus that he will not become like his father. Despite his obsession with the classics, he decries the Greek poets’ belief that our path is set and resistance only ensures submission to fate. Your destiny is your own, he implores the young man, and it’s not too late, never too late, to change it.
So Mary will still carry the scars of loved ones taken from her too soon, but she can make space to laugh and reminisce with her sister, and save for her newborn nephew who will carry on the name, and hopefully the spirit of her dearly departed son. So despite the prospect of being kicked out of Barton and forced to attend military school, with the prospect of war and death that comes with it, Angus can remain at Barton and find his way to the sunnier shores all but assured to bright young men in well-regarded centers of learning and the resources to propel them further.
So Mr. Hunham can become the unlikely surrogate father figure Angus is in desperate need of, and change his mind about the prospects of the next generation, at least for one young lad who makes him hopeful, whose success is worth martyring his comfort and security for. And he too can be lodged from his complacency, spurred to go visit the sites of the ancient world he’s studied but never seen, and write that monograph he’s been putting off.
When we’re introduced to the three of them, they are not just hunkering together in those almost unreal, interstitial days that envelop the end of the calendar. They are all in some in-between state, not quite where they started, but not quite able to move forward. When we leave them, Mary if able to make some semblance of peace with her tragedies and rekindle connections to her family; Angus knows someone has faith in him and has the surefootedness and, yes, character, to see his schooling through to the end; and Mr. Hunham, the stymied student-turned-teacher who’s been “held over” longer than anyone, finally finds a reason to break free.
The best movie I've seen this year. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and gave me this warm, cosy, but melancholic feeling. A must watch!
Sweet, warm, lovely, and long. I teared up on three separate occasions, if I recall correctly. This is the kind of film I might just play in the background for comfort during future holiday seasons.
"History is not simply the study of the past. It is an explanation of the present."
A heartwarming 70's Christmas tale on unlikely people connecting, learning from each other and developing empathy. The Holdovers is a great blend of emotional drama and comedy. A very humanistic story, it's nothing we haven't seen before, but done right nonetheless. Lots of pep talk feel good dialogue and a dash of sadness. The comedy was perhaps my favorite parts, laugh out loud moments. I like the song choices for the soundtrack and the score is good but it made me drowsy at times. Real snow and locations is a plus. Strong performances all around.
My main problem with it was the overlong runtime, I lost interest somewhere in the middle but it got me back later. There's a few unnecessary filler subplots too, like the romance for example, but it does build up the characters more—and the characters are great! A bit too slow, quiet and long for it to become a new Christmas classic for me but it was a decent one-time watch.
This would have been even better if the boys didn't leave. And a small group of people were stranded for real without the possibility of going out. Getting to know each other and learn something from one another.
This was such a boring movie.
My first Payne, and this exceeded every expectation possible. Now 'Poor Things' has something that isn't Marty to live up to!
I thought people were calling this a Christmas movie in the same way you call Eyes Wide Shut one but no this is ACTUALLY a Christmas movie, and is by far the best one ever made. I don't care what anyone says.
But yeah... I don't know what to say. This is unbelievably cute and made me smile through the whole thing. I also screamed "that was beautiful!" when the first end credit appeared, and Paul Giamatti shows he is one of the best to EVER do it.
"Life is like a henhouse ladder. Shitty and short."
From start to finish, I had a goofy smile while watching The Holdovers. It’s sweet and thoughtful that despite taking place in the snowy Massachusetts, USA, it has a warm and welcoming feel.
It’s a holiday season type of movie starring three characters who could not be more different from each other but “found” each other in complicated times. One is a cranky and stick-in-the-mud history teacher named Paul Hunham, who smells fishy. The other is an African American woman named Mary, who is the cook for the school but is dealing with her grief after losing her son to the Vietnam War. And lastly, a troublemaking student named Angus, who is a colossal pain in the ass you will ever meet, but deep down, a good kid who needs love and understanding. All three remain on the school campus during the Christmas holidays. They have no family or friends to go to. They don’t have anything.
Paul Giamatti is excellent as Paul Hunham, as Giamatti masterfully balances the humour and drama so effectively. After so many years, he continues to amaze us. His scenes with Newcomer Dominic Sessa were dynamic, hilarious, and moving. Speaking of which, I cannot believe this is the film debut of Dominic Sessa, especially when playing a character with an emotionally/mentally complex trait, but Sessa shows star power by nailing the part on his first go.
However, the film's heart belongs to Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Mary, who is dealing with grief, expressed in quieter moments. The real battle is happening on the inside. The pain is raw and will be for many years to come. But even in the darkest of times, we still can find happiness in the things we surround ourselves with.
I love how this was shot like a movie in the 60s/70s. The colours, the audio, and the titles are spot on. It captures the feeling and looks well, whereas other throwback movies fail to do the same.
The film has a story structure that isn’t new, and we know what will happen next. Two people who at first don’t get along, but when they spend a lengthy period with each other, they begin to warm up and change as people. You have seen this before. However, I don’t see this as a bad thing, as it never was sent out to be challenging or new, but a throwback to those types of stories you want to a happy ending. While watching the film, you know what will happen but want it to happen. I mean, how do you want this to end? Nobody gets along, the characters learn nothing, and nobody changes for the better. Who wants to see that? Are you trying to subvert expectations? Are you trying to be a smart ass? Who am I talking to here?
A predictable story can be annoying, but weirdly enough, it works here.
It is one of those movies that, as soon as the movie ends, you miss the characters. Director/writer Alexander Payne may not expect this to be a potential holiday classic, but he should embrace it! The Holdovers is a feel-good movie.
Gave it a total of 50 minutes before pulling the plug. This is crap.. we'll never get back that lost time that we could have put to better use like watching paint dry or snow melt.
If there was a purpose to this movie it should have been presented within 20 minutes at most. Instead it just rambles on for no particular reason.
1/10
The movie has a very cozy and warm aesthetic with a lot of emotional parts. It really hits you in the feels just in time for Christmas.
this movie is not for me, feels boring.
Really great movie, a rare find these days. It's all happening in the beginning of 70s, filmed in this style and keeps that vibe really good. Actors are great, the story is touching, zero woke/lgbt propaganda.
This movie reminded me of the saying: "We are all in the same game, just different levels, dealing with the same hell, just different devils".
And remember, anyone who doesn't like this movie might be considered a penis cancer in human form.
A nice film with a deep heart warming message, definitely worth a school hoilday.
Delightfully funny comedy with brilliant performances from the leads and an aesthetic that evokes the work of 70s great Hal Ashby. More like this please.
The movie's atmosphere was fantastic, both outside and inside scenes were perfect and nostalgic. The story was simple, but overall, it's a good movie to watch.
Holdovers is a likable Christmas film taking place in 1970. It's a thoughtful film that expresses somewhat unoriginal ideas in an original manner. Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) plays a history teacher in an all-boys boarding school, Barton Academy. He is a strict teacher, tough grader, grumpy, rough about how he interacts, pompous, and despised by all his students and staff. He has no family to go to for winter break, so the headmaster assigns him to oversee 5 students in similar situations staying at the school. One of the kid's parent comes by and decides he will take all of them on a skiing vacation with him. However, one student named Angus can't get in touch with his mother, who is off traveling with her new husband, to get permission. Hunham takes Angus under his wing along with the school cook, Mary. Angus has a knack for causing trouble and pulling pranks. Mary's son Curtis had died in the Vietnam War. The three lead troubled lives, fending off depression for different reasons, and bond over the coming days, including at a Christmas party.
It's an interesting movie with great acting from the three. The cinematography, directing, appropriate soundtrack for the era, and subtlety in writing stand out to me. The movie explores many themes, especially focusing on the human experience, including personal growth, friendship, and living by letting go. I would say it's a light-hearted film with comedic moments, but there is a dark undertone. I liked the nostalgic feel and overall atmosphere that you get when watching. The only issue I had was that they could have quickened the pacing without losing any content.
Would I recommend this? Yes. If you enjoy films like 'Dead Poets Society', 'Rushmore', 'Being There', and 'Scent of a Women', this is a must-watch. There might be some similarities, but I think Holdovers is one unique, fresh film.
In Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” we find ourselves immersed in the quiet corridors of Barton Academy during a chilly '70s Christmas break. Paul Giamatti delivers a tour de force performance as Professor Paul Hunham, a man whose gruff exterior conceals a tender heart. When a handful of students remain at the school over the holidays, including the sharp-witted Angus (Dominic Sessa) and the grief-stricken cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), their lives intersect in unexpected ways.
Payne’s lens captures the vulnerability of these characters, revealing their shared humanity. The film deftly avoids clichés, opting instead for genuine moments of connection. If Hunham is the reluctant father figure, Mary becomes the grieving mother, and Angus, the precocious teenager. Together, they navigate life’s unpredictable currents, leaving us with a warm, lingering feeling—one that echoes long after the credits roll.
The Holdovers is a heartfelt embrace, reminding us that friendship and understanding can emerge from the unlikeliest of circumstances.
Human emotions ha?
Human connections? The bonding we build with other strangers over a small period of time is much greater than the ones we know since eternity. It's a story of human bonding and how a human needs other human to survive one single day without going crazy. It's a story about the relationship between a teacher and a student and how love born out of hatred. It's a story about loneliness and how a one single knock on the door can help you get through it. It's a story about making cherry jubilee and eventually burn it anyway. It's a story about exploring. Exploring different horizons of human emotion, human sides that are undiscovered. This is probably one of the best modern day Christmas movie.
The only complain i have is they didn't hug in the end. Just a handshake. It's sad no? But i think it's a hope. A hope that they will meet again after he is done with this school and they will share a beer and hug eachother goodbye.
A clear masterpiece.
Watching it after the Oscars event and i think Da'Vine Joy Randolph not only deserves the Oscar but the entire world. Everyone deserved an Oscar but some movies are bigger than awards. I will keep this movie for the rest of my life just in case it gets way too cold in December. I will know i am not alone. Three holdovers are with me to get it out of December. :')
This movie, is the epitome of what I would call a beautiful movie. It's just great that the characters in this movie approach each other, learn from each other and learn about each other. Where at the beginning I thought I was watching a new version of Breakfast Club, after about 1/3 the movie switches to Dead Poets Socity. Conclusion, sometimes heartfelt, sometimes funny, sometimes self-exposing and at the same time very light-footed
Typical Christmas formation film, a sort of two-faced Catcher in the Rye. A nice family movie for the festive period, not too original the character development.
Good film. An unusual cast of characters are brought together under less than ideal circumstances. They find a way to connect and make the best of the holidays.
Started a little slow, but soon warmed up to the three main characters and got completely glued to the screen. It’s an endearing story with peculiar characters that somehow mix so well together. Absolutely well executed and played by all three
Screening got interrupted due to a fire evacuation. This actually improved the audience once we returned because we'd all experienced this unusual situation together (kinda like the holdovers <3) and it made the experience extra adorable.
I love this 70's movie, it's beautiful.
I should make a top 100.
A cranky teacher beaten down by life finds himself reluctantly playing babysitter to the rebellious students left at boarding school during the holiday season. We already know where the film is headed and how the characters will develop. Yet, everything is written and executed with commendable elegance and taste. The cook’s subplot felt slightly heavy-handed, but other than that, the film strikes a good balance without feeling too rhetorical or schmaltzy, providing the right amount of bittersweet good feelings for the holidays. Despite the early 70s vibes, anything but obsolete.
Lovely film, that feels almost like it was made circa 1070 rather then simple set then. Very subtle filmmaking where it needs to be, telling us so much about the characters by simple blocking and framing. After watching episode 1 of Expats, fail so badly at this last night, it was great to enjoy something so deftly made today.
I thought the performances were exceptional apart from 1 or 2 small roles. Giamatti gets better with age and seems to have taken the position in Hollywood that was once occupied by Richard Dreyfus. They are very different actors in many ways but have a distinct crossover in their manner, although there was one moment when Paul laughed and for a moment I could hear Dreyfus - but maybe that is just me. Giamatti's physicality from how he acts when inebriated to how he walks in general is all very specific and sets him apart from many actors in the subtle ways he can elevate the presence of his characters. Da'Vine Joy Randolph is great as Mary Lamb, no doubt partly due to Alexander Payne's direction she creates her character with a lot of restraint, revealing enough emotion when needed but then switching direction in a way that is completely believable for Mary. Dominic Sessa is also very good and will no doubt be popping up in many other films very soon.
The story probably didn't resonate with me as much as it might other people but I can see why people loved this film as much as they did. On top of that, the story doesn't offer anything we haven't seen before and it plays out essentially as you might expect. The film's originality is in the nuance, Payne deftly telling the tale and nailing that nuance along the way.
What a beautiful movie. The character development is just amazing.
Loved it, it shows how life takes unexpected turns and can change through inconsequential interactions. I think this will be a regular rewatch in the future.
Alexander Payne's latest film is a cozy story, one of those films that makes you smile tenderly due to the warmth of its scenes. Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa make up a heterogeneous trio that manages to form bonds of friendship in just a few days. Loneliness, depression and abandonment are the knots that bind these three very different characters. It is a beautiful film that, although it does not provide a solution to the problems, ignites a little hope for them. And although it is classified as a comedy, without a doubt each of the three protagonists has a scene so moving that you want to burst into tears.
Finally a nostalgic movie with great vibes no phones no technology just emotions and great script.It's a warm,Christmas movie with good messages and with nice perfomances. 7.5/10
It was a decent watch, but doesn't deserve such high praises. I also really can't understand how this is rated R.
Giamatti magnificent. Whole cast quite good. Full of ocular delights. Drags slightly here and there but a worthy 8.1
One of the best movies I've watched recently. It definitely reminds me of the movie Dead Poets Society at first. But the direction the movie takes is different and beautiful. A feel-good, sweet and beautiful movie. It is recommended. 7,5/10
Wow. This was a special one. The movie captures the atmosphere of 70's/80's movies almost perfectly. It takes inspiration from a couple of great movies from that time and creates this beautiful story. Loved it.
Good performances
Long movie
Characters 7/10
Story 6/10
Pacing 5/10
Visuals 7/10
Rewatchability Factor 4/10
Enjoyment or Emotional Value 6/10
Average Score 5.83/10
It's a beautiful warm story. Reminded me of movies like Dead Poets Society and Good Will Hunting. The acting was phenomenal, I was left speechless afew times from the acting alone. The style it was filmed in was so perfectly, simplistically, nostalgic. It's not just a Christmas movie but a people movie. There's something everyone can relate to. The reason I'm not giving it a higher rating is because every time I thought it was coming to an end, it spun me 360 and started a new mission.
Without overcomplicating it, this is basically just a modern day Dead Poet’s Society or Mr. Holland’s Opus. Those films are both about 30 years old, and this feels like it could be right there with them. It’s an incredibly told emotional story that if you love either of the two previously mentioned films, you will love this, without question! Even if this is one I will not turn on frequently, objectively it is incredible!
Rating: 4/5 - 85% - Would Recommend
Probably the most boring film I have ever seen. I think the only reason people even attempt to get the whole way through is because your expecting a big ending based on the reviews. Yes it's a Christmas movie, That doesn't excuse it being mind numbingly boring. Why was this classed as a comedy?!
Delightful low stack story, beautifully crafted and delightfully acted.
It's a very simple, subdued holiday movie of yesteryear, with the frosty wintry landscape lit aglow with a warmth that suffuses the entire movie. And this beautiful color grading is reflective of the themes of the movie as well, with these frigid characters learning to open up. There isn't a complex overarching plot, everything is simple and maybe even predictable. But it never feels trite or tiresome, rather more like a warm hug. The further I get from it, the higher it jumps in my rankings. Simply put, it feels like an instant classic, the type of holiday movie you can watch year after year. And the acting is excellent, both from Paul Giamatti but especially from newcomer Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Highly recommend.
Superb drama. Paul Giamatti deserves an Oscar. Heart warming and yet heart breaking.
Did the spitting at the end mean anything particular?
“Keep your head up…
You’re gonna get through this”
“Yea I was gonna tell you the same thing”
A wonderful story about unlikely companions, each with their own problems and flaws and how they overcome it during what starts as a sad holiday season and ends with a warming conclusion for all involved.
Giamatti is excellent in this role. Those who are familiar with his work will forget who he is and become consumed with his character.
For fans of Alexander Payne and arthouse movies. Not the most entertaining and easy going Christmas movie. Slow start, but it got better as the film progressed.
This was a bittersweet story about three people experiencing tragedies and hardships, some of their own making, seeking salvation, and ultimately finding family among one another. Ms. Joy Randolph and Mr. Giamatti were both terrific in this film, and it wouldn't shock me to see them walk away w/ Academy Awards for their efforts. This was a heartfelt film that showed no matter how our experiences may shape us, we still get to determine our own path through life. From time-to-time, we may be joined on this road by others, and that's what this film looked at: No matter how short our journey together may be, it always has the potential to leave an imprint that could be life-changing.
Possibly one of the directors who could least be expected to make a Christmas film is Alexander Payne, but he has managed to propose a story in which the festivities involve the characters, making them appear even more isolated. Set in the late 1970s, there is an undercurrent around the trauma of the Vietnam War that is also important. Those who remain not only refers to the three lonely characters who remain at Barton boarding school because no one is waiting for them, but also to those who are in their country while others fight in an unknown country. The staging involves not only setting the time in the seventies, but also making a film as if it were from the seventies, including logos of the production companies as if they had existed then, and the use of mono sound, which It gives the film a special texture. But above all, it achieves a moving story with characters marked by pain without ever being tearful.
Rated a Connor 10, normal 8.4
These types of character studies succeed primarily due to stellar performances. There is interesting narrative ground explored, but that's not where most of the runtime goes. Instead it feels like we get what amounts to slice-of-life style storytelling that flesh these characters out into real people. I know the slice-of-life characterization feels odd considering the entire movie takes place over a two week span, but that's just how it feels without a propulsive A leads to B leads to C type of story. Luckily, the performances really are strong enough to carry it. Paul Giammatti deserves whatever praise (and nominations) he receives. The production is also top notch, with the retro-style style working well to sell the era. With all of that said, I think this is a film where audience reception will vary depending on how much they relate to the characters and themes being explored. I can recognize that it's all incredibly well executed and I did enjoy it, but I think I'm missing the personal connection that would really sell it.
As an aside, with my brother recently delving into stoicism, the funniest joke in this film for me was probably Hunham using Meditations as a go-to gift for everyone. Hilarious.
If there was a list of movies that define who you are as an appreciator of film, this movie would be on it. This film is is an absolute gem. And the fact that it achieves that heights that it does with only a very small cast, backdrop and premise is astonishing. At different times I thought that this movie would drift into themes done in other movies (Good Will Hunting comes to mind), but it never does. It managed to travel in unchartered waters and made something that felt really original.
follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies
From the opening titles (which ape the period the film is set) to the end credits, it's a beautiful, emotional ride.
Warm and wholesome. Just what you need on a cold december night
One of the best if not the best movie of 2023. This is a classic I am adding it to my collection. Peeps this is a MUST WATCH!
Another fine example by Alexander Payne, if you've seen and like a movie he make you will love this. This is meant to be a classic holiday feel good movie. Fantastic music, great plot and dialogues great acting, even the length no boring at all. No surprises on the script, you can see coming a lot of things miles away but they are delivered so well crafted and so emotionally. Great character writing as always,
"The Holdovers" offers a refreshing departure from traditional Christmas films, delving into the bittersweet reality that not everyone experiences the holidays surrounded by loved ones. Set in the '70s, the film's strong production design seamlessly captures the era's ambiance, from cinematography to costumes. Paul Giamatti delivers a seasoned performance as Paul Hunham, a cranky teacher overseeing students stranded at Barton Academy over winter break. The standout, however, is Dominic Sessa, in his debut role, impressively holding his own opposite Giamatti.
The movie gracefully navigates the complexities of human connection, portraying the makeshift family formed by these "holdovers." It avoids a traditional plot, focusing on authentic character interactions and evolving relationships. The '70s aesthetic adds a nostalgic touch, enhanced by well-executed crossfade transitions and a slightly faded film look. While exploring the melancholy side of the holidays, the film manages to infuse moments of warmth and humor as the characters bond. "The Holdovers" might not follow the typical holiday film formula, but its rich dialogue, compelling characters, and poignant exploration of unconventional holiday experiences make it a memorable and emotionally resonant watch.
This is actually a sweet movie, let down by the egotistical director, who just because the movie is set in the 70's, gave it a 70's screen ratio. But all I kept thinking was about this psycho, forcing everyone to watch this with a vertical black stripe each side of the screen. No one is going to watch this in the 70's, you egocentric idiot.
Who would have thought a tiny movie would sneak out, that is funny, but heartfelt, nostalgic but evergreen, depressive but hopeful release. Holiday movies that can balance both the positive feelgoods and the realistic less good feelings that sometimes come with the holiday period are rare to get right, but when they do it's always a gem.
I think this is a genuine contender to top 10 territory. I think it was the intent, but it worked where it felt like I had just discovered a movie from the 70's/80's from some random top movies list on the internet.
Amazing characters, where each one gets their moment, every performance from lead to single line appearance delivers and feels like it belongs. Dominic Sessa as as far as I can tell is a first credited role is incredibly impressive.
First let's get something straight, the acting in this movie is outstanding. Giamatti does an amazing job with his role and the rest of the main cast is only slightly less fantastic.
The movie, overall, is a bummer of a Christmas movie with some real highs and lots of lows. This is the other side of Christmas, the Christmas where you are alone and don't want to be or lost someone you dearly miss - it's not National Lampoon's Vacation. This doesn't make it a bad Christmas movie but it's not a typical one.
It does drag a bit at times, is fairly predictable at times, but the acting really makes this worth watching. Seeing people perform their craft to this degree is wonderful.
And this movie lacks all the tropes that just must be in every movie today, even totally thumbing their noses at the Academy Awards and their diversity requirements for nomination, instead they made a movie that is a good movie without any agenda whatsoever except to tell a story - the way movies are supposed to be. Everyone who is in this is in it because they had to be to tell the story, not forced into a script to satisfy some requirement and it's wonderful to see one of the only movies this year that does it right.
One of the best movies seen this years
Like a fashion museum: I'm not a fan of the threads but was impressed by the style.
The story of an unpopular teacher and his impish charge stranded in a vacant boy's school over Christmas break is just what you'd expect and nothing more.
The look and feel of the film, however, is absolutely remarkable. Watching The Holdovers is a time machine trip back to the 1970s, and what a trip that is. The attention to detail is so absolute, you'll double-check Letterboxed to make sure the film really was made in 2023.
So, if you think of The Holdovers as a technical masterpiece with a free story included, then you're in for a treat
The Holdovers's premise feels a bit unoriginal; however, the film does have a lot to offer. The character writing is wonderful and perfectly executed. It has some heart and some comedy. A great movie and one I would recommend.
Review by Benoit TevesVIP 3BlockedParent2023-11-14T02:50:33Z
When my filmmaker friend told me this movie was the best thing he’d seen this year, I knew it had to be good. But wow, did it exceed my expectations. I agree - this is absolutely the best film I have seen this year.
From the top, you’re hit with the 1970s pastiche all over this movie and there’s an immediate coziness to it that never goes away. Whether we’re isolated at a New England boarding school with four characters over winter break or in the middle of Boston, there seems to be a sense of lived-in belonging that you just want to be a part of. (Perhaps part of that, for me, comes from a massive amount of nostalgia for a New England holiday season.)
All of the characters, for all of their flaws and quirks, are immediately likable - you want to know more about them, and the movie gives you that in the best, most natural way: through conversation, and sometimes, quiet moments alone. The three leads - Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph - bring such truth and humanity to their roles that you don’t want to separate from them.
The plot moves slowly, but the atmosphere and characters are the real draw here. Don’t get me wrong - this movie is FUNNY. Dry, yes, but I laughed a lot. I also cried a lot. This movie touches on abandonment, depression, loss, and the deprivation of potential - but also the power of conviction, connection, found family, and the power in the unknown laid out before you.