Order your tickets here to reserve a seat for “The Holdovers,” Alexander Payne’s new holiday-themed dramedy. Filmed entirely in Massachusetts, I am betting that readers of The Berkshire Edge will appreciate the opening scenes of Shelburne Falls as much as I did. What’s more, there are soothing scenes of the Iron Bridge and McCusker’s Market as the movie progresses.
Of course, the real reason to see “The Holdovers” is the dynamic trio of Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. This threesome’s eventual chemistry works so well, you will miss it when you leave the theater. And the way they form a functional family over the Christmas holiday will melt your heart.
The year is 1970. “The Holdovers” takes place at a boarding school toward the end of the fall semester. As the students ready themselves for final exams, they are more focused on leaving campus for winter break than anything else. But to Paul Giamatti’s character, Professor Hunham, his students are ill-prepared for the world, let alone the holiday table.
The group of Barton Academy boys who have no place to go for the holidays initially numbers five. Four are quickly allowed to leave via private helicopter when one of their affluent parents retrieves their offspring like so. This group departure leaves exactly one student, Angus Tully, with no place to go.
Meanwhile, Professor Hunham and the school’s food service director, Mary Lamb, commiserate with each other. The latter is grieving the loss of her Barton alum son to the Vietnam War. She chainsmokes while cooking, and Hunham hits the sauce when he is not lecturing his students on ancient history.
I caught “The Holdovers” last Friday at a multiplex matinee screening in Connecticut. The 12:45 p.m. show was nearly sold out when my family and I arrived, so we ended up in the very front row. After nearly a half an hour of previews, I was surprised the feature presentation contained captions.
However, my mom and stepdad hadn’t been out to the movies in some time, so needing to recline our seats all the way back was no big deal. And I found it easy to ignore the captions. Simply being together to watch this flick filled my heart with joy.
Alexander Payne’s inspiration for “The Holdovers” is a 1935 film by French auteur Marcel Pagnol called “Merlusse.” Payne’s contemporary interpretation includes themes of renewed relationships, even unlikely friendships. Simply put, Payne shows us how the holiday spirit often softens old scar tissue of both the physical and psychic kind. Honestly, “The Holdovers” has something for everyone, and its “R” rating is quite quaint.
I have followed Paul Giamatti’s career closely since we palled around together in a larger circle of East Coast transplants living in Seattle in the early 1990s. Our fathers had died months apart, his at 51 and mine at 50. Paul’s star was shining bright: He had just played a small part in “Singles.”
Looking back on my Seattle chapter, all of those relationships have changed. And this is really the message of “The Holdovers,” that people can and do evolve. Like most of the movies I have written about in The Edge recently, “The Holdovers” is also a love story. And like the final scene in “Priscilla,” someone hauls out in the last frame here, too. Why? Because adapting to change is healthy. We all need fresh starts. And we can never have too many friends.
My hope for you, cherished readers, is that you will order your tickets online to go see “The Holdovers.” The film opens this Friday, as The Triplex welcomes audiences back to local cinema. Of course, I am certain there will be multiple well-deserved Oscar nominations to follow.
Enjoy the movie. Its family-friendly message and original soundtrack will transport you to another era. And you will leave the theater in good cheer, I guarantee it.
