Da’Vine Joy Randolph as prep school head chef Mary Lamb in Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers.” (Photo courtesy of Focus Features)
Alexander Payne’s newest film, The Holdovers, proves one thing. He loves casting Paul Giamatti as a neurotic schoolteacher. After they last collaborated on Sideways, Giamatti churned out arguably the best work of the always-reliable actor’s career. Although The Holdovers doesn’t entirely reach the same artistic heights as Sideways, the holiday dramedy still acts as a cup of bittersweet hot cocoa.
Set in the 1970s, prep school history teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti) is tasked with supervising students, including Angus (Dominic Sessa), who have nowhere to go on Christmas break. Staying with them is the school’s head chef, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who’s grieving over the loss of her son in the Vietnam War. Together, all three go on an emotional journey toward healing and self-fulfillment full of laughs and tears. The central acting trio splendidly sells that turbulent journey.
As previously noted, Paul Giamatti is in top seriocomic form as another curmudgeon professor with a penchant for the sauce like Sideways’ Miles. Meanwhile, as the reckless Angus, newcomer Dominic Sessa proves himself an impressive equal to his veteran co-star. That being said, the film’s real star is the star of anything she does: Da’Vine Joy Randolph. With just a line reading or facial expression, Randolph acts as a form of sly humor. Yet, she gradually breaks your heart, especially during a pivotal Christmas party scene as Mary tries to deal with her grief. Someone like Mary could’ve been written and portrayed as a stock character. Yet, thanks to Randolph’s acting and how the script gives her an inner life by showing her interacting with her family, Mary feels like a person more than an archetype.
The rest of the script falls under familiar notions while following a group of broken people together by chance, including a curmudgeon learning to be less of one, who experiences chuckles and heartbreak as they get through the season. Then again, as long as stories like this succeed in their aim of tugging the heartstrings, they don’t need to reinvent the wheel. The Holdovers might not, but it does its job well and even shows people coming together during Christmas — a time when nobody should be alone.
Although the darkly comic bite of Election remains Alexander Payne’s finest picture, The Holdovers is a step above Downsizing and even the well-acted yet stagnant Nebraska. While straightforward story-wise and a tad too long, The Holdovers is a recommended enough slice of holiday viewing.
Grade: B
The Holdovers is currently out in theaters nationwide.