Do Not Cross The Rubicon

 This Is NOT A Christmas Movie

The Holdovers (2023) – When Christmas break arrives, five students remain at the school for various reasons. One irascible and unpopular instructor, and the manager of the school’s kitchen, remain with them to supervise. It turns into a holiday break unlike anything they’ve ever known.

Directed by Alexander Payne

Starring Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa

Why I Liked It – Paul Giamatti was enough to give it a look, and he didn’t let me down.

The setting is familiar- a small private school in New England. Christmas break and everyone goes home. Except those who can’t. They live too far away. Their parents have last-minute plans that leave a student alone. It’s a battle of wills between a father and a son. The insular, even inbred nature of the society at such schools has been fodder for books and movies for decades. Add in the demanding, sarcastic teacher, whose entire life has become the school and its traditions. All the characters rattle around in the echoing emptiness of the school halls. They will get on each other’s nerves, and they will either achieve a new level of understanding, or they…nah, they will. That’s what these movies always do.

I don’t feel like it is a spoiler when I tell you that not much of anything will surprise you, including the ending, in this movie. Take what I’ve told you so far and then write down what you think is going to happen. Then, watch “The Holdovers”. I predict one thing won’t surprise you and one will. You won’t be surprised by anything that happens. What will surprise you is how much you enjoy the movie.

Paul Hunham (Giamatti) was a student at Barton Academy, who returned to teach almost immediately. His entire life has been there, and he sees himself as the guardian of the traditions of the school. This makes him unpopular with the student body, their parents, the faculty and administration. With a little help from the headmaster, Hunham ends up as the teacher who will stay behind with the holdover boys, and Mary Lamb (Randolph), the school’s head cook. There are five boys to start, but only Angus Tully’s (Sessa) parents can’t be reached for a trip arranged by one of the other boy’s families. Tully is every bit as unpopular as Hunham among the student body. The student and teacher set each other on edge in every possible way. Meanwhile, Mary is dealing with the death of her son in Viet Nam. It’s her first Christmas without him, and her companions are no comfort to her.

After a really slow first half hour or so, the movie gains steam. What results is a warm, heartfelt movie about broken people finding their best selves. While director Payne rejects any idea that this is a “Christmas movie”, there are many folks who will adopt it as one. There’s a strong streak of “A Christmas Carol” here, with each character serving as the ghosts needed to create the change in the others. Each end up having their moment of discovering their personal Christmas day had arrived.

Oh, and director Alexander Payne absolutely hates when people call this a Christmas movie.  You can decide for yourself.

Giamatti is a long-standing entry on my “I’ll Watch Them In Anything” list. Randolph does a great job as well, and this is the debut of Sessa, who holds his own with his more experienced cast mates. I came away from the movie unsurprised, but happy that I’d spent the time to watch. Definitely a movie that I’d re-watch, Christmas movie or not.

You can stream “The Holdovers” on Amazon Prime, Peacock, Apple TV, and Vudu

Rating – **** Recommended