The Holdovers Rating

The Holdovers

Miramax, Gran Via Productions

Focus Features

Release date

October 27, 2023 

My Rating 

8/10

#whatonwhatsgood Fan Club Rating 

82%

Description

From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during the holiday break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

Running time

133 minutes

Directed by

Alexander Payne

Written by

David Hemingson

Produced by

Mark Johnson, Bill Block and David Hemingson

Starring

Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham

Dominic Sessa as Angus

Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Mary

Carrie Preston as Lydia Crane

Cinematography

Eigil Bryld

Edited by

Kevin Tent

Music by

Mark Orton

(l-r.) Director Alexander Payne and actors Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph on the set of their film THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release.

(l-r.) Director of photography Eigil Bryld, actor Dominic Sessa and director Alexander Payne on the set of their film THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release. Credit: Seacia Pavao / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

(l-r.) Dominic Sessa stars as Angus Tully, Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb and Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham in director Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release.

(l-r.) Dominic Sessa stars as Angus Tully, Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb in director Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release.

Actor Da’Vine Joy Randolph and director Alexander Payne on the set of their film THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release. Credit: Seacia Pavao / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

Director Alexander Payne and actor Dan Aid on the set of their film THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release.

Dominic Sessa stars as Angus Tully and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb in director Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release.

Dominic Sessa stars as Angus Tully and Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham in director Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release.

Dominic Sessa stars as Angus Tully and Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham in director Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release. Credit: Seacia Pavao / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

Paul Giamatti stars as Paul Hunham in director Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

Paul Giamatti discusses Hemingson’s script

“There was already a lot of complexity in the character because of the way he was written” 

“Good writing helps you be in a place where all kinds of things can happen and a good director who doesn't confine you is really important. It's a movie about these three completely unlikely people forming a bond, finding common ground and common humanity. It's also a nice story about self-sacrifice so I hope the film gives you this sense of lived humanity and that it feels comforting in some way.”

Da’Vine Joy Randolph discusses The Holdovers

“What's beautiful about this movie is the way it transcends ageism, racism, and gender. Sometimes when you've hit rock bottom, you're open to anything to seek relief wherever you can. You would talk to a stranger if that meant that someone would listen to you. And so, it's almost as if the universe intentionally had this happen so that they could then have these interactions.”

Dominic Sessa discusses The Holdovers

“Being at a boarding school, I can understand how heartbreaking it would be to be ready for break and then have your parents tell you that you can't come home for Christmas. You understand that there's this broken family dynamic going on behind the scenes for him which comes out in his daringness to say some of the things he says. But at the same time, he can be charming, innocent, and one of those people you love to hate.”