The Holdovers
The Holdovers is playing in theaters at the time of writing. Rated R. Common Sense says 15.
STORY: B+
The story unfolds like a long memory.
We don’t remember every little detail when we look back on the important times in our lives. The highlights drift through our mind, one by one.
The scenes in The Holdovers behave the same way. Moments end abruptly. Time leaps forward. The next crucial event takes the stage.
If the film is a memory, whose memory is it? Paul’s (Paul Giamatti)? Angus’s (newcomer Dominic Sessa’s)? Maybe the memory of these two weeks - two weeks where they both begin to find their place in the world - belongs to both of them.
PEOPLE: A
Dominic Sessa’s debut is electric.
Most actors would have to superglue their shoes to the floor in order not to be blown off the stage by Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Dominic Sessa - with shoes unglued - goes toe to toe with both of them in the first movie performance of his career.
FILM NERD STUFF: A
Alexander Payne’s expert camera work helps tell the story.
The first moment we see Paul on screen, he’s grading papers in his tiny office. We can barely see him, tucked behind multiple walls and scattered stacks of books. With neither a word nor a blinding neon sign, we immediately know that Paul is a man who has isolated himself from the world.
CONNECT FOUR MORE (Elective Class): A-
You can never predict who’s going to play an important part in your life.
The film reminds us that we will often find connection in the most unlikely of places. These unlikely connections often expand our ideas of who we are and who we can be.
It’s one of the ways we grow up. And it’s how we keep growing after that.
FINAL COMMENTS:
The Holdovers is a delightful coming-of-(all)-ages story. The laugh out loud moments may be few and far between, but it’s an undeniably amusing film that will leave you looking backward at (and/or forward to) the biggest moments of your life.