‘The Holdovers’ rave reviews: Alexander Payne’s ‘witty, poignant’ dramedy is an Oscars front-runner

Following its world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival in August, Alexander Payne‘s “The Holdovers” was released nationwide by Focus Features on November 10. The dramedy stars Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham, a cranky history teacher at a remote prep school who is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student (Dominic Sessa) who has no place to go.

The film has solidified its place in this year’s awards chatter, with current Gold Derby odds forecasting Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Giamatti) and Best Editing. Front-runner status could lead to Oscar wins for Best Supporting Actress (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and Best Original Screenplay. Critics are gushing over the movie, with a consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reading, “Beautifully bittersweet, ‘The Holdovers’ marks a satisfying return to form for director Alexander Payne.”

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Tomris Laffly of The Wrap praises the film, stating, “Although it might promptly be added to your holiday movie rotation as a new staple, ‘The Holdovers’ doesn’t exactly feel like a new classic—it feels too familiar for that. Still, it does something tried-and-true so well and affectionally.” He adds, “Reuniting with Payne nearly two decades after the splendid wine country road-trip ‘Sideways,’ Giamatti plays the irritable Hunham with notes akin to a little bit of Miles (his ‘Sideways’ misanthrope) and a little bit of Colonel Frank Slade, played by Al Pacino in ‘The Scent of a Woman.’ That latter film is especially crucial to mention as Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’ feels like a warm and loving nod to an era in the ‘80s and ‘90s where inspirational academia-themed movies like ‘Dead Poets Society’ and ‘With Honors’ were numerous and most welcome.”

Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood Daily writes, “It is funny, sad, witty, poignant, filled with snark and heart and great acting. It also manages to be a film set at the holidays that offers something truly new for the genre.” Concluding, “Thank god for Alexander Payne. The filmmaker is, and always has been, a true humanist. A writer/director more interested in human beings, something that has always been the special effect of his movies. A two-time Oscar winning writer, his latest film, ‘The Holdovers,’ which had its World Premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, is one of his rare movies in which he doesn’t have a writing credit. David Hemingson did the screenplay, but the idea, an inspired one, came from Payne, a real film buff who was always intrigued by Marcel Pagnol’s 1935 French film ‘Merlusse’ about a group of boarding school students stuck over the holidays with a much-despised teacher. The director thought it had the bones for a new story and developed it with Hemingson.”

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David Ehrlich of IndieWire notes, “The vibes are immaculate from the start and only grow more so as the characters gradually start to become as detailed as the world that ‘The Holdovers’ constructs around them.” He continues, “You can practically hear Payne licking his lips from behind the camera when Mary and Mr. Hunham take Angus to a holiday party hosted by fellow Barton employee Lydia Crane (“The Good Wife” actress Carrie Preston, wincingly good as ‘The Holdovers’’ Virginia Madsen equivalent), which doesn’t end until everyone gets a chance to unmask their hurt. The director’s efforts to create the right circumstances for that kind of drama are greatly assisted by Eigil Bryld’s delicate 35mm cinematography, Ryan Warren Smith’s ultra-convincing production design, which never oversells the ’70s of it all (a third-act trip to Boston feels like stepping into a time machine), and Wendy Chuck’s evocative costume design, which cocoons Giamatti in so much corduroy that it starts to feel like a disguise.”

Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter says, “Not without its flaws, but it is an engaging and often touching comic drama that builds power as it moves toward its immensely satisfying conclusion.” Farber continues that the performances are commendable, especially that of Giamatti who “invests the role with bilious wit as well as a few fleeting glimpses of vulnerability. It is difficult not to share Hunham’s disdain for his pretentious faculty colleagues and spoiled students, but we gradually come to realize the disappointments that underlie his cynicism.”

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