The Holdovers (2023)
Country: US
Technical: col/1.66:1 133m
Director: Alexander Payne
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston
Synopsis:
Christmas 1970 at a Massachusetts private school, and the Ancient Civilizations teacher nobody likes is tasked with the job of babysitting a handful of holdover students with nowhere to go for the break. His outmoded authoritarian style quickly causes friction, but life has some lessons for him too.
Review:
The character of the teacher who never quite left school, having returned to teach there, goes all the way back to Child's Play (1972), and no doubt beyond: perhaps why Payne set his story in the same period. This occasions one of the film's felicities, namely the recreation of that era, all the way down to the vintage bumper cards, logos, pops and scratches that usher in the opening titles. It's a familiar setup of disgruntled, disaffected youth meeting curmudgeonly old timer and finding something to respect; perfect Oscar material, too. Nevertheless, the fact that it does work is credit to the writing (not too obvious, or mawkish), acting and settings, which breathe a certain nostalgia for the time in spite of its manifold imperfections. The snow helps.
Country: US
Technical: col/1.66:1 133m
Director: Alexander Payne
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston
Synopsis:
Christmas 1970 at a Massachusetts private school, and the Ancient Civilizations teacher nobody likes is tasked with the job of babysitting a handful of holdover students with nowhere to go for the break. His outmoded authoritarian style quickly causes friction, but life has some lessons for him too.
Review:
The character of the teacher who never quite left school, having returned to teach there, goes all the way back to Child's Play (1972), and no doubt beyond: perhaps why Payne set his story in the same period. This occasions one of the film's felicities, namely the recreation of that era, all the way down to the vintage bumper cards, logos, pops and scratches that usher in the opening titles. It's a familiar setup of disgruntled, disaffected youth meeting curmudgeonly old timer and finding something to respect; perfect Oscar material, too. Nevertheless, the fact that it does work is credit to the writing (not too obvious, or mawkish), acting and settings, which breathe a certain nostalgia for the time in spite of its manifold imperfections. The snow helps.
Country: US
Technical: col/1.66:1 133m
Director: Alexander Payne
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston
Synopsis:
Christmas 1970 at a Massachusetts private school, and the Ancient Civilizations teacher nobody likes is tasked with the job of babysitting a handful of holdover students with nowhere to go for the break. His outmoded authoritarian style quickly causes friction, but life has some lessons for him too.
Review:
The character of the teacher who never quite left school, having returned to teach there, goes all the way back to Child's Play (1972), and no doubt beyond: perhaps why Payne set his story in the same period. This occasions one of the film's felicities, namely the recreation of that era, all the way down to the vintage bumper cards, logos, pops and scratches that usher in the opening titles. It's a familiar setup of disgruntled, disaffected youth meeting curmudgeonly old timer and finding something to respect; perfect Oscar material, too. Nevertheless, the fact that it does work is credit to the writing (not too obvious, or mawkish), acting and settings, which breathe a certain nostalgia for the time in spite of its manifold imperfections. The snow helps.