Anyone who knows me knows I love a good curmudgeon-with-a-heart-of-gold character. Top of that list are Dr. Cox from Scrubs and Roy Kent from Ted Lasso. Enter the newest entry: Paul Giamatti's Paul Hunham.
The Holdovers is a 2024 Academy Awards Nominee (with Da'Vine Joy Randolph winning for Best Supporting Actress). The story follows Paul Hunham, a cranky teacher at a prep school, who stays back with a student and grieving cook over the holiday break.
Another thing I love is a found family story and this fits so well. I love watching people who seem so different finding their similarities and the humanity in the other.
It took me a bit to get into the movie, but the more the characters bonded and learned about each other, the more invested I got.
Da'Vine plays the head cook, who is grieving the loss of her son in the Vietnam War. Her award was well deserved. It's impossible to not be invested in her story, to not love her, and to not grieve with her.
One of the biggest standouts was Dominic Sessa as Tully, the student left behind. This is his first ever role and the fact that he can keep up with someone like Paul Giamatti is incredible. Tully is the quintessential troublemaker. The one with a lot of promise. The further you get into the movie, the more you learn about why he struggles so much with his behavior.
What I loved so much as the movie progressed was that Tully and Paul, despite the antagonistic beginnings, truly learn about each other. Tully sees his teacher, hated by others students and faculty alike, as human. He's not just the authority figure. And Paul sees beyond the troublemaker front that Tully puts up and really empathizes with him. The ending is the perfect finale of the time these two spent together. That shows how true compassion and selflessness can change lives. It's a bittersweet ending that leaves you with hope instead of dispair.
If you love found families, unlikely friendships, and realistic human stories, I highly recommend The Holdovers.
P.S. Alana also talks about her opinions of the movie on our blog. The post will be up on April 11 at 12 p.m.!