The Holdovers is a Masterpiece

In a very strong year for film, one work of art stands apart.

They don’t make anything like they used to.

An old head would say that about many things, from cars to washing machines to McDonald’s cheeseburgers. And objectively, they’d be true. Planned obsolescence is a real thing. Similarly, our grandparents probably remember when fridges and washers lasted 25 years. I sometimes think about the shelf life of the film. Put another way, I lay awake at night repeatedly, wondering how many more years of mediocre filmmaking we must endure before a resurgence.

I’m kidding about the lying awake at night part, but much not else. It’s been a while since I’ve sat and watched the credits of a film roll, and while being bombarded by names on a screen, silently pondered my existence by way of the stunning piece of art I had just experienced. 2019 gave me two of such occurrences in Waves and The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Many good films have been released since then, and even a pocket full of great ones. Yet, in a relatively strong year for film, The Holdovers emerged as a masterpiece.

Set in 1970 and starring Paul Giamatti as a disgruntled old curmudgeon of a teacher, The Holdovers explores loss, grief, disappointment, fear, love, relationship, and perseverance. To any adult not born with a silver spoon in their mouth, it’s a story about life – and all the good, bad, and indifference that comes with it.

The Holdovers is also about the details. The opening montage makes you feel like it’s 1970. The soundtrack and music are perfectly selected and even more brilliantly placed. Sure, you know that the primary set of characters in the film (Giamatti as Paul Hunham, Dominic Sessa as Angus Tully, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb) will eventually bond, but you don’t know how. You get very little in the way of telegraphing scenes of despondency, breakthrough, nurturing, or peace. Hello, life… what might you have in store for me? More pain, treachery, heartache, or a breakthrough moment of revelation, restoration, love, companionship, and redemption? We never really know. The Holdovers doesn’t either. That’s what makes it so damn good.

Not only is The Holdovers an amazingly written film but it’s directed with care by Alexander Payne. The scene transitions are simple, classic, and cohesive. They add to the story, not take away from it. Giamatti is spectacular as Paul Hunham, the well-intentioned yet beaten down by-life teacher stuck at this New England boarding school over the Christmas holiday. Not too far in, however, it’s Randolph’s character that absolutely steals the show. In every scene she’s in, she owns it and does so with grace. From the facial expressions of mourning to the excellent Boston accent, Randolph brings to life both the immense grief of losing a loved one and the sheer will of perseverance most Black people have engraved in their bones. Add an equally fine performance for Sessa as Tully, and it’s no wonder The Holdovers amassed so many nominations at the Academy Awards. If Randolph doesn’t win Best Supporting Actress, it will be a travesty.

I had a half-minted smile on my face from start to finish, not because The Holdovers is a film looking to make you laugh, but because it’s a film about life. And life makes you laugh just as much as it makes you cry. More than anything, it highlights the challenges we all face from time, mostly to no doing our own, and illustrates how people in less-than-ideal circumstances can bond. Telling that story reminds us that most of the good we do in this world will often only ever be noticed, acknowledged, and wholly received by a handful of other humans. And if The Holdovers teaches me nothing else, it has taught me that it is okay.

The Ratings

RL Score: 6/6

IMBD Score: 9/10

Total: 15/16 (Yeah, it’s that good.)

Photo credit: Retreived from https://www.ledevoir.com/culture/cinema/801213/cinema-the-holdovers-pensionnaire-cuisiniere-misanthrope?