The Holdovers is nominated for several Oscars alongside great films like Oppenheimer and Poor Things. Nevertheless, the film is not talked about in the same way as other films. MeinMMO author Nikolas Hernes thinks that’s a shame because the film is really good and deserves every nomination.
The Holdovers is the new film by Alexander Payne. He has been nominated for Oscars 7 times and won twice for his screenplay for Sideways and The Descendants. His new film The Holdovers is currently nominated for 5 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, and I think the film can also compete with Oppenheimer and Poor Things.
The history teacher Paul Hunham, played by Paul Giamatti, is not really popular, but is assigned to look after the boarding school students during the winter break of 1970 who have nowhere else to go. Due to unfavorable events, he is left alone with his student Angus Tully, played by Dominic Sessa, and the cook Mary Lamb, played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, at the boarding school for the holidays.
You can get a first impression of the film here:
The Holdovers – Trailer for the Oscar nominee about a teacher who has to spend the holidays with his student
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The Holdovers is raunchy, funny and emotional
The story of The Holdovers is simple. A teacher has to spend the holidays with his student. But Angus is not an easy student. He’s been expelled from several schools, he’s vulgar, defiant and always trying to do some nonsense. But he is also smart and sensitive and suffers from his mother’s new relationship.
And Paul Hunham is not an innocent lamb either. He is mean, grades incredibly strictly and is also at loggerheads with his principal. That all sounds shallow and simple at first, but that is the strength of the story, because the chemistry of the characters is fantastic. When Angus and Paul argue it’s believable, quite often really funny and pleasantly explicit. Insults are thrown and each other is cheekily made fun of.
The entire cinema and I laughed out loud at many points, more than at typical comedies. These arguments make the emotional scenes even more effective. Each of the actors conveys the sadness, loneliness and anger organically and vividly. Paul Giamatti’s nomination for Best Actor is 100% deserved.
The cook Mary is also wonderfully played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph and brings a mediator as a third party. She is just as vulgar as the other two, but her personal story ensures that everyone sticks together.
What’s great and refreshing about all these scenes and moments is the film’s tact. The film achieves this primarily with its editing.
Simple but effective and skillful editing
The Holdovers is nominated for best editing for a reason. The film manages to let all of its scenes stand on their own, the moment and the acting of the characters are in the foreground. There are no wild editing storms or camera pans; zooms are often used that are reminiscent of old films. Wide camera perspectives, such as long shots, are also used between different scenes.
Then you stop and you see the characters interact with each other. This gives the characters in the film a lively personality without having to actively describe them with words.
The sound is also fantastic. Music is mostly only used within the film. The soundtrack isn’t blaring in my ears in the cinema telling me how I should feel. The dialogue, the characters and the actors stand on their own and convince me that what is happening is real.
This cinema experience was incredibly refreshing for me, even though a lot of it is based on old films. I was happy that I could decide for myself how I felt in each scene and that there wasn’t someone trying to tell me how to feel all the time.
I have rarely felt as comfortable in the cinema as I did watching this film. Although many of the events are bitter and sad, the film has a positive tone and allows me to feel my own emotions without much fanfare.
I hope that alongside Oppenheimer and Poor Things, this film will also be considered at the Oscars and I can recommend a visit to the cinema to everyone. You have been able to watch the film since January 25th, 2024. MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski can recommend another Oscar candidate: Killers of the Flower Moon is the strongest film of the year because it still hurts even after a week