The Holdovers review: Paul Giamatti is superb in touching coming-of-age drama

The Holdovers is a coming-of-age story set in a stuffy boarding school, where both a troubled student and equally troubled teacher come of age over the course of its lengthy runtime. It’s a touching tale, and director Alexander Payne’s best film since Sideways.

Payne is good with stories about grumpy white guys – see About Schmidt, The Descendants, Nebraska, and the aforementioned Sideways. The Holdovers is no different, revolving as it does around a very grumpy white guy, to the point of near caricature.

Paul Giamatti plays protagonist in question Paul Hunham, who teaches Ancient Civilisation at the Barton Academy, and considers his students to be “philistines,” “troglodytes,” and “hormonal vulgarians.”

He’s the ultimate curmudgeon, but thanks to Giamatti’s performance – and David Hehmingson’s nuanced script – you suspect there’s a Mr. Chips hiding somewhere beneath that stern exterior. Slowly and carefully, The Holdovers reveals his truth, via the friendship Hunham forms with an angry pupil. As well as through his interactions with a cook who is stuck with the pair of them over Christmas.

What is The Holdovers about?

The Holdovers is set during the festive season where 1970 gave way to 1971 when the world was transforming outside the Barton school gates – even if it was remaining resolutely the same within. Having annoyed a precious Academy donor, Mr. Hunham gets railroaded into looking after the kids who are holding over during the holidays, meaning they’ve nowhere to go, so remain on school premises.

But Paul doesn’t really mind, as he has nothing better to do, and seems to quite enjoy punishing them by breaking both their spirits and their minds. So it’s limited recreation time – Physical education in the snow and lots of academic study.

Hunham initially has four boys in his care, but then cocky Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) discovers that he isn’t going to St. Kitts for the break, rather his family is abandoning him. He too is then stuck at Barton with a teacher who hates his guts.

These early scenes are a blast. Hunham clearly has a problem with teenagers whom he believes to be “entitled little degenerates,” so takes every opportunity to cut them down and put them in their place. But the kids give as good as they get, making for an entertaining battle of wills.

Three-hander becomes a two-hander

School cook Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) adds some spice to proceedings, as she is also trapped at the school. She has recently suffered a terrible loss, and most certainly isn’t taking any of Paul’s nonsense. This sets up some interesting social dynamics between these seven disparate characters.

Then events conspire to turn the seven into three, with Paul, Mary, and Tully alternating between fighting with each other, and appreciating the company as Christmas Day approaches. While on the surface they have little in common, it quickly becomes clear that the trio is all sad and lonely, as well as disappointed with how their lives are turning out.

Tully has also been expelled from three schools, and if it happens a fourth time, he’ll be sent to Military Academy. With Vietnam in full effect, that adds some jeopardy to the narrative, which helps to up the ante.

And then – via a trip to Boston – three become two, with Hunham and Tully transforming a hilarious odd couple as they peel each other’s layers away until both are fully laid bare. It’s lovely stuff, the pair ultimately realizing how much they have in common. And doing what they can to help each other make sense of the world, and their place in it.

Paul Giamatti is sensational

The part of Paul Hunham isn’t a revelatory role for Paul Giamatti. Being a frustrated writer who finds solace in the bottle, there are times when it’s uncomfortably close to his work in Sideways – just with a little less self-loathing.

But that doesn’t stop it being a sensational performance. Hunham has a historical anecdote for every occasion, much to the dismay of whoever he’s conversing with. But his bravado masks real vulnerability, and as those around him bring out the character’s softer side, it’s hard not to fall for his curious charms.

Giamatti is well supported by his two scene partners. Da’Vine Joy Randolph steals scenes in pretty much everything, and The Holdovers is no different, with the side-eye she frequently directs at Paul absolutely devastating.

While newcomer Dominic Sessa is terrific as Hunham’s self-destructive nemesis, all arrogant bluster at the start of the movie, before events overtake him, and Tully is ultimately revealed to be entirely lost at sea. The character goes on a heart-wrenching journey, and Sessa absolutely nails it, giving as good as he gets in emotionally charged scenes with Giamatti. Then finding the character’s humanity in the home straight.

Is The Holdovers good?

The Holdovers might be a white people film about white people problems, but it’s a very good example of that genre. Paul Hunham is a truly hilarious creation, and the world he inhabits is entirely believable, and peopled by interesting characters whom it’s a joy spending time with.

At 133 minutes it’s a little long, but there’s just enough going on to fill that run-time. While the film’s themes are universal, telling a tale of family lost, and found, in the most unlikely arena. And even though these unlikely companions form a truly dysfunctional unit, the time they share – and the bonds they form – turn The Holdovers into a film that’s filled with hope.

The Holdovers score: 4/5

The Holdovers is a comedy-drama that delivers both comedy and drama, and a festive film that might just be a new Christmas classic.

The Holdovers was reviewed at the London Film Festival. It receives a limited U.S. release on October 27, 2023, before going nationwide a week later. For more movie reviews, head here.