The Holdovers

Alexander Payne’s best movie in years, The Holdovers follows three private-school denizens (Paul Giamatti’s Paul Hunham, Dominic Sessa’s Angus Tully, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Mary Lamb) as they become unexpected friends during the Christmas break. Filmmaker Payne, armed with a script by David Hemingson, offers up a deliberate yet increasingly enthralling drama that benefits from the completely captivating and wholeheartedly engaging efforts of its leads, as Giamatti turns in a predictably lived-in, magnetic performance that goes a long way towards cultivating and sustaining the movie’s engrossing feel – with the actor’s stellar work more than matched by both Sessa and Randolph. It’s clear, too, that The Holdovers‘ episodic midsection plays a significant role in cementing its success, as Payne does a terrific job of suffusing the proceedings with one agreeable, spellbinding interlude after another (eg a trip to a holiday party takes an emotional turn, Angus visits his ill father, etc, etc) – which, when coupled with a seriously satisfying third act, effectively (and completely) cements the picture’s place as a top-notch endeavor that lingers long after its end credits have rolled.

**** out of ****