About The Holdovers

Post 1474:

The Holdovers feels like a movie that was made back in the day. It’s a nice piece of work about a few characters with very little in common, stuck together for the holidays at some boarding school for rich kids. There’s the needlessly bitter teacher, the smart but rebellious student, and the lady that runs the kitchen. They are eventually united as they learn more about each other.

Boarding school movies have a pretty good track record, now that I think about it. There’s Dead Poet’s Society, Scent of a Woman, and School Ties. All fantastic. Weird.

What we have here is a story about a kid that needs a father and a grownup who needs to lighten up and give some thoughtful guidance rather than be a dictator to cowering groups of students. It’s not smooth sailing, but they eventually get there. The layers are peeled back slowly and with care, allowing us to understand the reasons for certain characteristics. It’s not an exciting film by any stretch and it says what it wants to say through the performances. Paul Giamatti is typically fantastic and the guy who plays the high school kid is damn good.

I thought it could be a little tighter. Maybe shave a few minutes off the run time. There’s a thread or two that aren’t fully developed but nothing unforgivable. The thing I really liked was that I was surprised by the stakes. Sometimes “small” or localized stories can feel weightless and unimportant. Not so here. The ending is very worth the wait. Characters evolve and grow. A nicely written and directed movie. Emotional. Pretty good for Christmas, but no, it’s not Die Hard. I mean, who are we kidding. There can be only one yuletide cinematic miracle, folks.

Anyway, hope you had a holiday. God bless us everyone and such. Cheers and see you after.