The Holdovers is a charming and heartfelt movie that is perfect to get you in the mood for the holiday season. Dominic Sessa steals the show!
Credit: Seacia Pavao / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
Everyone loves a feel good holiday movie, and that is what The Holdovers is — for the most part anyways. Sure, there are some heavy topics discussed, but ultimately this movie is charming and helps to instill a little bit of faith in humanity, something that is dwindling more and more in this day and age.
The film stars Paul Gimatti and Paul Hunham and Dominic Sessa as Angus Tully. The two are forced to spend the holidays together when Angus is told that he will not be going home from his boarding high school during the winter break. Instead, Mr. Hunham is in charge of him and the other boys who are left behind. Da’Vine Joy Randolph plays Mary Lamb, the sassy cook who stays behind for the holidays as well.
With Angus and Paul spending so much time together, they tend to get on each other’s nerves, while also creating a bond that can likely never be broken. Their story is one that offers hope and proves that even the hardest of shells can be cracked.
The Holdovers is the perfect holiday film, and will likely be joining many must watch lists as it is sure to put viewers in their feels. Not only does this movie deliver on the heart, it is also quite funny. The chemistry between Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa is unmatched, but it is Dominic who steals the show.
He might be a young boy who often acts out, but once you know his story, it becomes easy to understand why he is the way he is. His wisecracks are more than often entertaining, but it is when he opens himself and becomes vulnerable that he really shines.
There is much to love about this film, and it is likely to be one that many viewers connect with on different levels. Like A Christmas Story, The Holdovers is sure to become a holiday classic that is revisited year after year, always putting a smile on the face of those watching it.
The only issue, which is more of a nit-pick than anything else, is the length. As seems to be the trend over the last year or so, The Holdovers clocks in with a runtime of over two hours. It never drags, and the runtime is never really felt, but still, that is a long time to sit in the same seat.
This movie is something truly special. It perfectly combines subtle humor, laugh out loud moments, and a chemistry between the two leads that we haven’t seen on screen in a while. It offers up a whole lot of heart, and is a must watch Christmas movie.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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About The Holdovers
From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, THE HOLDOVERS follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go.
Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
