The Holdovers (2023)
Alexander Payne
Alexander Payne has never made a bad film, however his last film did took a big swing and only managed a double. I blame Matt Damon well it's been eight years and Payne is back with a film he didn't write starring Paul Giamatti as a grumpy teacher in a 1970[s boarding school. This might be the best picture of the year, it's certainly going to have a lot of people singing it's praises.
So the film is sold as a story of three damaged people, a cook dealing with trauma, a misanthropic teacher who is stuck watching the kids that can't come home for Christmas and a student who is dealing with his own issues. Much like Paynes work the film has a cynical sense of humor however this is perhaps his most subtle work. The humor and emotional punches hit harder here than in other films because we get restraint.
This film is shot like a film from the 1970's, it's a period piece which the special effects are putting us in this 1970's world. And I do mean "world" it's not one of those films where you feel like if you turn the camera on an angle you'll see the modern world, or these people only exist in this singular location. The world is fully realized, shot beautifully made to feel like you are watching a technicolor masterpiece.
Paul Gamatti gives the performance of his career, He disappears into the role his character of Hunham. You don't really know what to make of him at first but the film slowly pulls away the layers and a man that starts off as pretentious and condescending exposes himself as something very different. We've seen so many teachers as mentors and antagonists and victims over the years but this is something different. Hunham is a man of nuance and because of that nuance the jokes hit so much harder.
My only complaint with the film...is as with most modern films from Hollywood we're not allowed to just have this type of film told. Da Vine Richardson plays the cafeteria worker stuck with these kids and she's given a lot of screen time. Frankly if he role was cut in half the film would come in under 2 hours and her scenes would have a much greater impact as a supporting figure in the story. All films nowadays have to walk this woke PC dance and fortunately the film and filmmakers demonstrate a tremendous amount of restraint. This is the world of polite society and her struggles hit better when they weren't trying to shoehorn into more of the story than she needed to be in. I expect her and Giamatii to get an Oscar nominations.
But this is really just a quibble, this movie is a five star film and borderline masterpiece.