#MovieReview: The Holdovers is a Christmas gift [Watch]
Directed by Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways), The Holdovers follows three main characters who are stuck in an upper-crust Massachusetts boarding school over Christmas break.
The Holdovers is a delightful gift of a film that will surely earn a place among the pantheon of Christmas classics.
Small in scope, talky and tender, it is a perfectly rendered 70s period piece and a true ‘they don’t make them like they used to’ kind of film.
In the age of CGI, where mid-budget films have largely fallen by the wayside in favour of gargantuan blockbusters with no soul, The Holdovers is a wonderful festive tonic.
And regardless of whether your Christmas poison is It’s a Wonderful Life, Die Hard, Home Alone or Elf, this film will likely find a place in both your heart and holiday entertainment rotation.
Directed by Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways), The Holdovers follows three main characters who are stuck in an upper-crust Massachusetts boarding school over Christmas break.
That’s basically it. There’s no third act major twist, no overly showy set pieces, just an excellent depiction of a slice-of-life.
It is the kind of movie Hal Ashby would have made in the 70s and that retro vibe is hammered home by Payne.
He opens on a specially designed opening credit sequence while digitally adding cracks and imperfections to the movie that mirror those found when shooting on film.
The cutting style is mostly fades and dissolves too, which are rarely seen nowadays.
It all runs the risk of being a little bit twee and overly-manipulative, but it fully worked for me.
As does the cast, all three of whom deliver some of the best performances of the year.
Paul Giamatti plays a crotchety teacher forced to look after troubled pupil Dominic Sessa, while Da’Vine Joy Randolph is the school cook who keeps them fed.
They bicker and laugh and grow friendly with each other in ways none of them expected when the holiday started.
Giamatti and Randolph are typically excellent while Sessa jumps off the screen in his first filmed role. He is certainly one to watch.
Cynics might call The Holdovers overly sincere, but I found it to be one of the most uncomplicatedly enjoyable films in recent memory.
Older viewers who have more patience with entertainment will likely feel the same way.
The Holdovers is currently available to rent via Amazon Prime and is expected to have a small theatrical release in January.
Rated 18 for Language, brief Drug Use and Sexual Content.
4.5/5.
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