The Holdovers - Lezioni di vita

Now here's a film with a life affirming theme, that should encourage most viewers to think of their dreams, and cascade away all their cloaks, inhibitions, and open fresh doors to their heart's intuitions; as a teacher whose life is as stale as dead fish, whose life is the opposite of happy and bliss, meets a boy who's ignored by all those he holds dear, and a friendship is formed that is warm and sincere; it's a subtle reflection of how we get trapped, by tradition and habits and past circumstance, where surroundings like prisons can temper our thinking, to distil all our spirit, to bottles for drinking; so embrace all the chances when they come along, break out of that mould and sing your own song, open your eyes to the paths unexplored, take a stand and stand tall, and stop being ignored.

It's a comedy-drama set from December 16, 1970, to the first week of January 1971 in an exclusive boy's boarding school in New England and Boston, Massachusetts. It follows the experiences of the "holdovers," that is, the students who cannot go home over the Christmas holidays and the two Barton staff left to supervise them during the holidays.

There are five holdovers: Teddy Kountze (Brady Hepner), Jason Smith (Michael Provost), and Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) are upper-class wealthy WASP students. Alex Ollerman (Ian Dolley) is a younger Mormon student whose parents are on a mission in South America. Ye-Joon Park (Jim Kaplan) is from South Korea.

Left to supervise is Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), an unmarried ancient history teacher who was once a student at Barton and has taught there all his career. He's a demanding curmudgeon who almost everyone dislikes. African American Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), the head cook, is also present; her son, a Barton grad, has just been killed in Vietnam.

The film follows the shared experiences of the holdovers, though four students leave after a week when a wealthy father takes them for a ski holiday. Paul cannot contact Angus's parents, so he must stay with Paul and Mary at Barton. We also meet the school's headmaster, Hardy Woodrup (Andrew Garman), his administrative assistant, Lydia Crane (Carrie Preston), and janitor Danny (Naheem Garcia).

"The Holdovers" is a delightful comedy leavened with wisdom as we learn the dark secrets that have shaped Paul Hunham and Angus Tully. Giamatti, Sessa, and Randolph are all excellent. The script unfolds the twists and turns superbly. "The Holdovers" is a great Christmas movie.

Finally......a GOOD movie. The story/script, although not a breakthrough idea, was heartfelt,full and real.

The settings were also real and gorgeous (not really a cgi fan) Camera, cinematography, lighting,sound,score....every level made my eyes and ears satisfyingly full.

Acting was oscarworthy across the board.

Directing was brilliant.

Only negative I can come up with is that the pace was a bit slow, but so much of the movie is so focused and so superbly and beautifully made I just sat back and enjoyed it.

A very thoughtful substantial and beautiful movie. A rare gem in today's superficial gimmicky movie making world.

Here is a film that feels and looks like something out of the early seventies. The Holdovers is a strong and warm-hearted piece that gives actors roles with powerful lines, without any reliance on flashy editing and being overwhelmed by special effects.

The story is simple three people get stuck for the Christmas holidays in a boarding school. It's cold, lonely, and boring for the parties involved. The adults drink to cope with whatever pressures they live with. The young man resorts to bad behavior and altercations with the teacher in charge.

Through the vacation period these people will get to interact and get to know each other, something that will prove to a challenge to say the least. As the story evolves, we get to understand what has made the people who they are. We get to feel their pain and frustration through the very insightful writing of the director.

It's a strong film with superb acting by the main leads. They have great chemistry together.

Most outstanding is Paul Giamatti who plays the tormented and defensive man with relish and speaks volumes with his eyes.

Hope the academy honors his performance as the best the year because no one else so far is coming close.

Very enjoyable film with outstanding performances and a wonderful warm vibe accompanied by the Christmas season. It's funny at times, sad at times, and feel-good. It's a story that almost all can relate to and will really touch your heart. It deals with so many themes, but mainly grief, the past, family, and what makes a person who they are. It's also very original and has a great script, cinematography, and soundtrack. I would highly advise to see it in the theaters as well as you really get the 70's vibe and deep moment on the big screen. There aren't many negatives to this film and I would recommend it to most people.