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The best Christmas movie of the year has finally arrived in the UK, albeit a little late for Christmas. Alexander Payne’s heartwarming and uplifting dramedy hits all the right notes with his skilled direction. Adapted from TV writer David Hemingson’s well-crafted screenplay, it expertly reveals the characters’ personalities and transitions in a subtle and gradual manner. The film, titled “The Holdovers”, is set in 1970 and purposely captures the look and feel of a movie that the characters themselves would have watched at the time. It features witty and bittersweet dialogue reminiscent of films by Hal Ashby or Bob Rafelson, and a nostalgic soundtrack featuring artists like Cat Stevens and Labi Siffre.
However, it also bears resemblance to an Alexander Payne production, with its sharp portrayal of intergenerational dynamics, a journey-esque theme, the quirky pairing of characters, and the not-so-private experiences of a humiliated educator. Paul Giamatti takes on the role of Mr. Hunham, a grouchy professor of classics at a boys’ boarding school in New England, where he was once a student. Known as “Wall-Eye” due to his lazy eye, he is known for his strictness and high academic expectations. He is single and resides on campus. The film poignantly and harshly depicts how he is stuck in the same state of perpetual bachelorhood as his students, but with much more despair and disappointment. Similar to Giamatti’s character in Payne’s Sideways, Hunham turns to alcohol, though without any pretensions of being a connoisseur. Like Matthew Broderick’s character in Payne’s Election, or Reese Witherspoon’s character in the upcoming sequel Tracy Flick Can’t Win, Hunham has learned to accept disappointment and frustration as inevitable aspects of a teacher’s career.
Almost everyone dislikes him, especially the principal, Dr Woodrup (played by Andrew Garman). Dr Woodrup is angry at Hunham for failing one of the wealthiest students and for insisting on actual grades for academic work. This causes the spoiled and entitled student to lose his chance at getting into an Ivy League school and also means his wealthy father will no longer make donations to the school. To get back at Hunham, Dr Woodrup forces him to take care of the “holdovers”, which are students who cannot go home for Christmas break. This includes a troubled and unhappy student named Angus, played by the talented newcomer Dominic Sessa.
More importantly still, the eerily empty school is dominated by Miss Lamb, the school’s cook and a woman of colour resoundingly played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph (like Giamatti, a Golden Globe winner for her performance). Like the menfolk she is marooned there over Christmas, and is suppressing her grief and agony for her son, a former pupil on a scholarship connected to her employment who has just been killed serving in Vietnam – precisely the military service that the white boys are getting prestigious college places to avoid.
The issues of race, class, and toxic masculinity are crucial in this situation. It serves as a prominent reminder of what was significant during the Vietnam War. Unlike the later generations involved in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, the United States had a draft system where education played a key role in avoiding conscription. This had real-life consequences and could determine one’s survival.
The viewers are likely anticipating the introduction of the bitter Mr Hunham and irate Angus, both lacking in companionship and family, as they overcome obstacles to form a close bond. It may not be unexpected that they succeed, but the portrayal is clever, sophisticated, and boldly creative. It could be argued that Miss Lamb’s story plays a secondary role to this central relationship, but her acting is superb and Payne and Hemingson allow her character room to develop, especially in the scene where she reunites with her sister.
Has Payne ever delivered a more powerful punch in his past works? It’s possible. However, the empathy, complexity, and tenderness of this film are still wondrous: a mature drama for the intellectually inclined. There is room for reflection on why this story must take place in the past. Could it be updated to a school in 2024? I question, just as I did while watching Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza, if the 70s setting frees the filmmaker from being weighed down by the current world of identity politics and the louder demands of contemporary issues. It also allows everything to unfold in a world that is paradoxically untainted by political and social guilt.
Giamatti’s talent is truly one of a kind; it is enjoyable to watch him take on a leading role in a film, his first in quite some time. His significant presence in this excellent movie suggests that the film industry may be returning to a more relatable world of genuine storytelling and traditional talent.
Source: theguardian.com
