The Holdovers

The format may be unsurprising but there is nothing unsurprising about just how good and enjoyable this is... this is the kind of bittersweet, character-dialogue driven piece they just don't do anymore.

It is the genius of Paul Giamatti to make us, over the course of this great movie, not just re-evaluate and learn to respect this mess of a man but actually... to love him.

There’s a bracingly astringent bleakness under its surface layer of melancholy humour; a biting, sharp edge that counters the occasional lurch towards sentimentality.

The Holdovers emerges as a testament to Payne's unique storytelling ability, offering a grownup drama for intelligent audiences, inviting a nuanced exploration of the complexities of human relationships against the backdrop of cruel classist rigidity.

Some may still baulk at the conventional structure. But conventions emerge for a reason. An absolute treasure. Merry Christmas to you all.

Giamatti gives a wonderful performance here. He roots his character’s frustrations not in cruelty but in misguided desperation -- an eagerness to mould these boys into men better than himself.

In a time when things often seem so hopeless, when the same forces of inequality and military injustices plague our own world, perhaps it’s this film’s realistic salve that makes it resonate so strongly.


Despite the anxiety and even sadness its story exudes, it’s a movie so in love with its characters, and so steadfast in its humanist convictions, that it reaches into your soul and melts even the most frozen of hearts.

The Sideways actor-director duo combine once again for a terrific, bittersweet rumination on life, love and grief.

Giamatti and Payne are a movie match made in heaven