The Holdovers Review – Award Winning Performances, A Must See

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Category: Film

Published on Friday, 12 January 2024 10:38

Written by Janet Walker

The Holdovers, from Focus Features, presents a story of hope as a group of misfits are alone during the holiday break at a boy's boarding school and are chaperoned by a methodical, by the book, emotionally bankrupt, teacher.

The film begins with a pan of a quaint, snow covered, village and a campus, with boys tossing a football, as the camera narrows to a man shoveling the snow, looking up at a window. The film then moves to the home/office of Mr. Hunhan, played by Paul Giamatti, as he is meticulously grading papers, and remarking on the poor performances of his students. Also noticeable are half-empty Jim Beam bottle as well as several empties.

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We find out immediately, Barton Academy, a boy's only boarding preparatory school, is considered the best and those who graduate go to the most prestigious colleges and universities and become the leaders of tomorrow.

Now, in the boy's dormitory, Angus Tully, played by Dominic Sessa, is packing for winter break and he is headed to St. Kitt's, for two weeks of sun, sand, sea, and surf.

We also discover there are a few boys who won't be returning home over the holiday break and are designated the "holdovers" and with every year a faculty supervisor is drafted to supervise them throughout the break.

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Mr. Hunhan has been drafted as chaperone for this year's holdovers. A no-nonsense, by the book, task master, we see him interacting with his students as he is returning history tests to his class, and we understand he is a drill sergeant, we see a series of poor grades, save one, for Angus Tully, who receives a B+, the best in the class.

Before the student's are excused for the holidays, they gather in the chapel, where the camera pans across names of those Barton graduates who died in service to their country. We see, a picture of an African American, Curtis Lamb, in military uniform, and his mother, Mary Lamb, the Head of Cafeteria Services, played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph, sitting in the front row.

With a prayer for those soldiers heroically fighting in Vietnam, school is dismissed, and Tully is waiting for his parents to arrive. Just then he is summoned for a phone call, and his mother explains that she and her new husband are taking their honeymoon, and she is terribly sorry.

So, now, Mr. Hunhan, and five boys, Angus, Mr. Kountze, played by Brady Hepner, Mr. Ollerman, played by Ian Dolley, Mr. Park, played by Jim Kaplan, Mr. Smith, played by Michael Provost, and Mary, are alone for the holiday season. After a few days, Mr. Smith's dad shows up in grand style and offers to take all the boys skiing for the holidays.

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Unfortunately, Tully's parents are unavailable and so now, he as a teen is pummeled by a double disappointment and he is alone with Mr. Hunhan, and Mary, who is grieving the loss of her son, and the school's handyman, Danny, played by Naheem Garcia.

Tully, who is academically a high achiever, is also a teen and as a teen he is manipulative, angry, emotional, and lonely and now paired by Mr. Hunhan, who is cranky, a functioning alcoholic, highly intelligent with little emotional intelligence. Soon these misfits make what could have been a holiday disaster into a time of change, with each finding although age separates them in this unstable and ever-changing world, humanity, and human kindness can reach through the annals of time, across the generations, and provide a shelter in a tumultuous storm.

The Holdovers does more than present this time capsule moment in the lives of these two, and by extension, four, wandering souls, it reaches into the soul of the audience and along with a special soundtrack finds the lost moments in all our lives, when life was teetering, on the brink of an irreparable course of action, only to be drawn back at the last moment.

The Holdovers resonates with audiences, and it should with award winning performances from Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers is a must see.

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Country: U.S.

Runtime: 132 minutes.

Language: English.

Director: Alexander Payne.

Writer: David Hemingson.

Producer: Bill Block, David Hemingson, Mark Johnson.

Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, Jim Kaplan, Andrew Garman, Alex Ollerman, Michael Provost, Naheem Garcia, Stephen Thorne, Gillian Vigman, Tate Donovan, Juanita Pearl, Darby Lee-Stack, Alexander Cook.