Directed by Alexander Payne (Nebraska (2013); The Descendants (2011); Sideways (2004); About Schmidt (2002)) and starring Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man (2005); The Illusionist (2006); 12 Years a Slave (2013)), Dominic Sessa (in his first feature role), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Lost City (2022); The United states vs. Billie Holiday (2021); Dolemite is my Name (2019)) and Carrie Preston (Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008); True Blood (TV series, 2008-2014); The Good Wife (TV series, 2010-2016)).
Comedy Drama; 133 mins; 12+
Also known as "The Holdovers", this film is set in the early 1970s in a boarding school for boys located in New England, outside Boston, Massachusetts.
Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is a bitter history teacher at the school who lives in-house. He has no family and spends his free time smoking his pipe and reading. He does not suffer fools gladly and has an argument with the headmaster after refusing to pass the son of a wealthy benefactor. The headmaster's secretary, Miss Lydia Crane (Carrie Preston), fetches him for the headmaster who subsequently volunteers him to stay behind for the two-week Christmas break to supervise a small group of children whose parents - for one reason or another - leave them at the school over the holiday period.
One of these children is fifteen-year-old Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa). He has already been expelled from three schools but his grades here are looking up, partly because he does not want to go into the military, the only realistic alternative to going to college. His mother has remarried and decides that going on honeymoon over the Christmas period is more important than spending it with Angus, so he is one of the five children left behind.
One of the children's parents does indeed "rescue" their child, and invites the others to go skiing with them; however, Angus's parents cannot be contacted, so he is destined to remain at the school with his history teacher and the school's cook, Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), whose son used to attend the school but was killed while on active duty in Vietnam before he was 20.
Mr Hunham and Angus clash - the student does not want to be there and lets his feelings be known in the clearest terms. He argues with his teacher, telling him to his face that nobody likes him, not the students and not the other staff. The snow is on the ground and the heating has been switched off in most of the school buildings, so they are restricted in many ways. However, their adventures start and their rocky relationship evolves for what is an unlikely Christmas.
A decent "Christmas movie" without the saccharin overdose of a romantic comedy. Half a serious drama, with comedic moments, particularly towards the end, by which time it has evolved into a mellow tale interspersed with some cutting / caustic exchanges. A great performance by Paul Hunham who provides the glue to hold all the scenes together.
Currently screening in Luxembourg at Kinepolis.
