As I’m not the biggest fan of director Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, Election, and even less of one of Paul Giamatti (Saving Mr. Banks, Straight Outta Compton), I was lukewarm, at best, about seeing The Holders, a reunion of the director/actor duo that combined for 2004’s Sideways, a beloved critic and audience favorite, but a film I suffered through for 20 minutes before deciding that it was not for me. Sideways was a movie I was sure I would not enjoy, but I attempted it anyway because of the hype. I was miserable. After watching the trailer for The Holdovers, I anticipated a similar type of dread. However, I was willing to give this one a chance after hearing from critics and audiences that this film, while heartfelt and poignant, still maintained some edge.
The film is set at the distinguished Barton Academy, a fictional prep school outside Boston. The movie is set in the early 1970s, with elements of The Vietnam War touching each of our characters in one way or the other. We meet our cast at the end of the fall semester. Paul Hunham (Giamatti) is a curmudgeon history professor who is universally disliked by his students and most of his colleagues. He’s aware but is set on his old-school ways, more interested in a result than either the process to get there or any potential alternate outcomes achieved. We spent most of our team getting to know him with one particular section of students, most of whom earned underachieving marks on their end-of-term assignments. Angus (newcomer Dominic Sessa) was the one student Professor Hunham’s who made a high mark on the end-of-term assignment. It’s the first sign that Paul sees hope in Angus that he doesn’t have in his other students.
We see Angus is on the phone with his mother, Judy (Gillian Vigman – The Hangover Part II, The House), attempting to coordinate winter plans. Judy tells Angus that she and her new husband, Stanley (Tate Donovan – Rocketman, Manchester by the Sea), have decided to go on a delayed honeymoon to St. Kitts, leaving Angus, along with four of his classmates who also do not have a place to go, to remain at Barton. While I have never heard of any holdover program like this, I’m sure something exists, whether officially through the school or elsewhere. I imagine this would be particularly true for students who study from overseas.
In our story, Paul is chosen as the faculty member supervising the holdovers. His role as a less-than-glorified babysitter is a far cry from the prized writer he thought he would have been at this point in his life. And the five boys are more like unruly children than preparatory students. We get the usual shenanigans that we would expect from a group of restless teenagers under the lock and key of someone they despise. The other four boys are less integral to our story than they might initially appear. The key figures are Paul, Angus, and Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph – Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Lost City), the kindhearted yet down-on-her-luck school cafeteria manager who has decided to stay at Barton for the holiday, rather than going home to deal with a loss.
While well-intentioned, The Holdovers is highly predictable. Though, in its defense, most holiday movies of this nature are. It never feels like our story advances. Instead, the characters go through a set of expected tropes, some dividing but ultimately bringing them together. Paul becomes more like George Bailey and less like The Grinch. Angus is going to have some kind of confrontation with his abandoned parent. Mary will come to peace with her grieving. In short, everything is going to be okay in the end. Well-intentioned. Well made. Unimaginative. Forgetable.
While I did not enjoy Downsizing, Citizen Ruth, Election, or the 20 minutes I watched of Sideways, I have enjoyed Nebraska, The Descendants, and About Schmidt. However, each left little to be desired. With each of those films, I wanted to feel a little more invested than I was. Each movie was designed to tug at the heartstrings, but it felt like Payne always pulled up a little too soon. The same could be said about The Holdovers. While this seems to be Payne’s style, I feel more uninvested than I want, especially after being immersed in his skillful story-building.
This was an average movie. It certainly wasn’t bad. Many will enjoy it much more than I did. Many will use words like loving, enchanting, or genuine. I am not one of those people. As formulaic as The Holdovers was, it was well-made and, for most, worth the two-hour watch. However, I would not recommend going out of your way to see it. It’s not a movie I’ll be revisiting.
Plot 7.5/10
Character Development 7.5/10
Character Chemistry 7.5/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 7.5/10
Directing 8/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 8/10
Hook and Reel 7.5/10
Universal Relevance 7.5/10
79%
C+
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