Teacher Paul Hunham - played by Paul Giamatti - learns to open up while spending winter break at school, in the Oscar-nominated film "The Holdovers".
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Trailer "The Holdovers". The work received 2024 Oscar nominations including: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay (David Hemingson), Best Actor (Paul Giamatti), Best Supporting Actress (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) and Best Film Editing (Kevin Tent). Video : Focus Features
Directed by Alexander Payne, the film is set in 1970 at the Barton Boys' Boarding School in New England. When winter break arrives, history teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is tasked with supervising the students who cannot go home, including Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa). While the others are upset about being left behind, cook Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) chooses to spend time at the school after her son, a former Barton student, died in the war.
The film has a gentle storytelling style, delving into the characters' psychology. According to Far Out Magazine , what makes The Holdovers attractive to audiences lies in the simplicity of the narrative, focusing on the relationship between three people. Their emotions gradually reveal themselves, from conflict, understanding to supporting each other. When the knots are untied, they realize their purpose in life, continuing to find new joy.
Paul was a strict teacher who always followed the rules, while Angus came from a family with divorced parents and had been expelled from three high schools before coming to Barton. Instead of enjoying the holidays, Paul forced his students to study and play sports , which made Angus frustrated and wanted to escape the supervision. At first, the teacher and student could not find a common voice, and often had conflicts. After going through many situations, Paul and Angus had the opportunity to understand each other.
When Angus said the teacher smelled like fish, Paul revealed that he had trimethylaminuria (a rare metabolic disorder). Angus then changed his tone and apologized to the teacher.
Three characters with contrasting personalities experience Christmas together in high school. Photo: Focus Features
Chef Mary is the catalyst in the story of the two teachers and students. Unlike Paul and Angus - both of whom are intellectuals, Mary is a manual worker, working hard every day in the school canteen.
When confiding in Paul, the chef repeatedly expressed Mary felt it was unfair that some of Barton's students, from wealthy families, who had poor academic records, had been accepted to Harvard. In contrast, Mary's son, one of the school's best students, had dropped out of school because he couldn't afford the tuition, and then went to war in Vietnam and died.
Collider praised the film for its subtle depiction of human connection in the context of Christmas. In addition, the film reflects the youth counterculture of the early 1970s, referring to afro hairstyles, male students arguing about smoking, and the preference for listening to rock music in the dormitory.
Giamatti told the New York Post that childhood memories helped him get into character. His father, Bart Giamatti, was the president of Yale University, where students from wealthy families attended.
"There are some parents who don't care or don't have time to pick up their kids. I think of myself as a teacher, so I put my emotions into the character," Giamatti said.
At the 2024 Golden Globe Awards in January, Paul Giamatti won the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Photo: Golden Globes
ScreenRant The reviewer praised the artist for focusing on capturing the character's psychology, expressing pain through her tired face and slow gait. "Randolph deserves to win Best Supporting Actress at this year's Golden Globe and is a leading candidate for the Oscar," the site wrote.
Young actor Dominic Sessa is perfect in his first film project. Sessa portrays the cold, lonely side of a teenager neglected by his family, and works well with Giamatti in scenes that require psychological depth.
The music in the film is reminiscent of the holiday season, with many classic songs such as White Christmas (The Swingle Singers), Silent Night (The Temptations), The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Andy Williams).
According to Deadline , director Alexander Payne conceived the idea for The Holdovers after watching Marcel Pagnol's Merlusse (1935). Payne then contacted screenwriter David Hemingson to write the script. On Deadline , Hemingson revealed that some of the dialogue and scenes in the film were inspired by his parents and uncle.
A still featuring Paul Giamatti (as Paul Hunham) from "The Holdovers." Video: Focus Features
In August 2023, when it premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival, the film received a "fresh" score of 97% on the film review site Rotten Tomatoes with 12 reviews, Metacritic gave it a score of 82/100. According to The Times of India , the work "makes the audience follow every detail, immersing themselves in a period of social change with many cultural fluctuations".
Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw commented that The Holdovers is Alexander Payne's best film since Sideways. (2004). "The distinctive spirit of 1970s American cinema is captured in David Hemingson's sharp, subtle script," writes Bradshaw.
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