Film Review - The Holdovers

Images courtesy of Universal Pictures.

With the rise of the internet’s often-tiring modes of discussion, one topic that has become nearly intolerable is the debate over what does or doesn’t constitute a “Christmas Movie”. From the tiresome arguing over Die Hard to filmmakers like Shane Black setting otherwise un-festive films like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3 at Christmas, the subgenre (if you could even call it that) has become mired in pineapple-on-pizza-style controversy. Coming to theatres this Thursday 11th of January, The Holdovers provides us with an inarguable Christmas Movie – despite its quintessentially-too-late Australian release date – that feels ready to be an instant classic.

Known to many for his 90s classic Election, director Alexander Payne reunites with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti – but in a rare occurrence, Payne has no screenwriting credit on this film. Penned instead by television writer David Hemmingson, the script captures the Christmas break at a prestigious American boarding school in the 1970s. The always-excellent Giamatti’s Professor Hunham, an ornery and imperious History teacher (who, meme-ably, makes constant reference to the Roman Empire), is manipulated into staying at Barton over the Christmas break to supervise the students ‘holding over’ at school instead of going home to their families. One of those students is Angus, a lanky, sarcastic, and promising-yet-delinquent pupil of Hunham’s whose Christmas trip to the Caribbean was cancelled by his mother. The reason? She’s chosen instead to take a honeymoon with her new husband. Angus is, understandably, devastated: “this is the most bullshit ever!” 21-year-old newcomer Dominic Sessa, a student of the school where the film was shot, gives Angus such a recognisable blend of adolescent scorn and vulnerability that it’s difficult to believe he’s never acted on screen before. Another standout is Da’Vine Joy Randolph as the school’s head cook Mary Lamb, who has recently lost her son in the ongoing Vietnam War. Mary has such tangible loss, but her quietly obvious desire to go on is really moving: Randolph needs very little to get across this woman’s resolve, and the continuing recognition she’s been receiving this awards season is well-earned.

The film follows this unlikely trio and the quirks of fate as they’ve been forced together. The first half of Hemmingson’s script emphasises these characters’ differences and the discomforts of holding over together – but the film’s real Christmas Spirit comes as it eventually starts to illuminate what they have in common, and what they have to give to each other. What saves it all from cliché or saccharine neatness, though, is its sense of humour. The jokes in the film expose a caustic edge – these people regularly disparage each other in hilarious but disarmingly pointed ways, and the audience can intuit how it strengthens their relationships. Hunham may dismiss Angus as a “hormonal vulgarian” but it almost seems to clear the air between them, ensuring that the only place to go from their mutual frustration at being stuck at Barton with each other is forward. So they start from zero, and build a worthwhile connection. In this way, it’s a film about finding meaning and fulfillment in the people around you. Best of all, it’s a film about people with real problems, that they themselves are aware of, that remains refreshingly free of therapy-speak: no one pathologises themselves or their issues in that very contemporary, terminology-laden way that is so un-cinematic.

To wit, a comic, humanist drama of this kind would undoubtedly feel more at home in the cinema of the era in which it’s set, and this is a truth of which Payne is keenly aware. It’s all homage. The entire production – from its 35mm-film-stock look to the retro logos and titles before the film has even begun – reeks of 70s aesthetics and sensibility. It does, however, occasionally undercut the whole thing to be constantly reminded of this era-specific intention its director had, when you are hit over the head with 70s lighting and film grain; and the film often presents its old-style production elements – from costuming to soundtrack – in a way that feels intended to elicit a knowing smile. It’s what separates it from the actual Hal Ashby/Paul Mazursky films it’s echoing – those classics lacked that element of posturing. Payne’s intentions are pure though, and you can’t exactly fault The Holdovers for lionising a type of filmmaking we don’t often get to enjoy in 2024. It’s just too bad we didn’t get this one in 2023, so it could land in time for the festive season and become the canonical Christmas Movie it’s destined to be.

The Holdovers is screening in cinemas from Thursday 11th January. For tickets and more info, click here.