Paul Giamatti (Big Fat Liar, TV’s Billions) scored Best Actor trophies at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards for his role in The Holdovers, the Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) film about human connection, personal demons, and finding family in the unlikeliest of circumstances. 

Is the hype justified? 

The story

It is late 1970, and Paul Hunham (Giamatti) is an antiquities professor at the prestigious Barton Academy. A stickler for accuracy and decorum, Hunham is widely disliked by students and faculty alike. When a recent scandal results in the cantankerous professor being assigned to babysit students over Christmas break, his world is disrupted as he attempts to wrangle the wills and whims of five teenagers. With only cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, of TV’s Only Murders in the Building) to assist him, the cantankerous teacher will begrudgingly find that there’s more to life than his beloved academe.

The teacher

Giamatti is the runaway star of the film, bringing hilarious, temperamental life to Professor Hunham without pandering or slapstick. Measured and precise in his portrayal, Giamatti’s awkward mannerisms belie the lonely man hiding behind the scholastic façade.

When his crusty exterior gives way to burgeoning respect and -later on- genuine affection, for those around him, Hunham’s growth as a character is palpable; sporting a lazy eye, and a genetic predisposition to produce body odor, Hunham is a character who thrives within the solitude of his controlled, predictable routine. Of course, for all his bluster, the professor is just as insecure about his place in the world as the teens he supervises.

The nostalgia is (surprisingly) real

The Holdovers is the kind of small-scale comedy-drama that Hollywood doesn’t much make anymore. That being said, even audiences that haven’t grown up in a New England boarding school will have no problem being drawn in by the period trappings and excellent character work. Indeed, with Alexander Payne’s introspective direction ably complemented by Emmy Award-winning cinematographer Eigil Bryld’s (of Netflix’s House of Cards) ’70s-inspired visual treatment, it’s easy to get lost in this world of school ties and old traditions.

From Big Fat Liar to lovable grump

Paul Giamatti is no stranger to acclaim, with his much-lauded role in Payne’s own Sideways standing as a career highlight. With The Holdovers, the actor ascends to the rarified ranks of Jack Nicholson (As Good As It Gets) and Ed Asner (Up) in playing a big screen grump that audiences can’t help but love. As of this writing, Giamatti has already taken home Best Actor accolades at the Golden Globes and People’s Choice Awards. Seeing as Giamatti’s post-Golden Globes burger at In-N-Out went viral, who knows what he’ll eat if he wins an Oscar in the next couple of weeks? 

The student

Dominic Sessa makes his film debut as the perennial thorn in Hunham’s side, Angus. Left behind when his mother cancels their holiday plans to go on vacation with her new husband, Angus rebels against Hunham’s strict rules almost immediately. While sequences of the two clashing are undoubtedly fun, the actors (and the film) are at their best when the two adversaries actually take the time to see each other as people. Introduced as a problematic smart mouth, Sessa makes Angus’s gradual (if predictable) reveal as a compelling, multi-dimensional figure believable.

The cook

Mary Lamb (Randolph) runs the school’s kitchen, supervising the daily meals of three hundred students, in addition to faculty and staff. A religious, stoic character who endures bigotry on a daily basis due to her race and station, Mary’s world is upended by the loss of her son, a former Barton student unfortunate enough to be shipped out to Vietnam. Despite her loss, Mary’s practical attitude never lets her personal tragedy get in the way of her job. Indeed, it is precisely that practicality that enables her to bring Hunham and Angus back to Earth when their egos run wild, calling them out on their respective nonsense in a true motherly fashion.

The peacemaker

With a resigned sigh here, an eye-roll there, and a cigarette perpetually in hand (it was the 60s, after all), Randolph’s portrayal is comparable to her turn as the Broadway-loving homicide detective in Only Murders. While one wouldn’t immediately equate wrangling Steve Martin (Father of the Bride) and Martin Short (The Three Amigos) with putting unruly teens and their teachers in their place, it doesn’t seem entirely out of the question. In any case, with Randolph’s recent, tear-filled win at the BAFTAs, her continuing sweep of the 2024 awards is proving most satisfying to witness.

The bottom line

With Giamatti and the superb supporting cast working overtime to keep things believable under Alexander Payne’s expert direction, The Holdovers is a dramedy that drives home its message of human connection in a touching, nostalgic way.

The Holdovers opens exclusively in Ayala Cinemas on February 21.