The Holdovers

The Holdovers

A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.

  • Released: 2023-11-10
  • Runtime: 133 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Drama
  • Stars: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston, Gillian Vigman, Dustin Tucker, Bill Mootos, Paul Giamatti, Dan Aid, Colleen Clinton, Brady Hepner, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Andrew Garman, Naheem Garcia, Stephen Thorne, Tate Donovan, Alexander Cook, Liz Bishop, Cole Tristan Murphy, Will Sussbauer, Carter Shimp
  • Director: Alexander Payne
 Comments
  • aVoiceAmongTheMillionz1234 - 4 July 2024
    Comedy? A few moments here and there maybe.
    Misrepresented as a comedy, this movie had a few humorous moments here and there, but the majority of this film was slow. There are very few films that I wasn't able to finish until the end; this was one of them. After reading some of the reviews about the depressing nature of the ending, I'm glad I didn't waste my precious time. Don't get me wrong, the acting was not the issue. The actors played their parts very well. The 70's setting was also immersive. Nothing wrong with the music, etc. The pacing of the movie just made me so restless and tired of watching what was being shown. And there wasn't a sign of things getting better.
  • Quethinks - 14 June 2024
    A beautiful tale about grief and parental friendship.
    So I watched The Holdovers, directed by Alexander Payne, and it was a Great film. The performances by everyone, especially Paul Giamatti, are spectacular, and they all deserve the awards they're got for this movie.

    The cinematography is also something to marvel at, with the old film grain really tying the movie together with it being set in the 1970s. Also, this film is super emotional, so expected that going in. The writing is also sharp in this, with the teenagers actually sounding like teenagers, and one character has a nice arc the film shifts to focus on.

    If I had one problem, it would be that I want to spend more time with the other holdovers, but I guess you have to focus on the characters that are the most interesting, which are Paul, Da'Vine, and Dominic characters.

    So even though that was one issue I had with the film, I really think this film is solid and deserves the hype it is getting. I think you should definitely check it out for the upcoming holiday season.