The Holdovers - Collector's Edition [DVD]

What can I say, it's a great movie. No, really. This is an excellent movie. It's funny and heart warming, a little sad in parts, hilarious in others. The drama and comedy js balanced incredibly well, the characters are all complex and well developed and ultimately people you grow to love. It's interesting, the script and acting is good, and the story flows well--not too slow paced, nor too fast paced. It evokes a wonderful nostalgia that ends up being charming rather than cloying or overbearing. All of the actors did a terrific job. The movie will make you smile, laugh, and most likely tear up at the end. Just a great film.

Enjoyable movie, good direction and acting.

It's the holidays at Barton, an East Coast boarding school for rich kids, and not all the kids get to go home for the holidays. And Paul Giamatti's character, one of the strictest, most disliked teachers in the school, gets stuck babysitting them. A relatable, fun story, that works on many levels, not only about the characters and their struggles with life, but also as a historical time capsule of the early 1970s when the story is set. Nice poignant ending too. I really enjoyed it. Well written, cast, and acted. Great sets too. Part of the fun of the story is all the locations, imagining being there, and going back in time. Better movie than I was expecting.

A shining example of narrative film making, where the director, Alexander Payne, took his time and gave ample screentime to develop characters and let the story do its job without artifice or gimmicks. As a period piece set in the very analog and gas world of the 70s, the settings were comfortable and believable. People in the 70s weren't online or perfectly beautiful with phones in their hands all day. This film captured a rough simplicity that has since disappeared. Nominated for 5 Oscars, the film is resplendent. Paul Giamatti more than deserved an Oscar for Best Actor (but didn't get due to the Academy being enthralled with Oppenheimer, which I found to be powerful, but also overly heavy-handed and somewhat pandering). Fortunately, Da'Vine Joy Randolph was also divinely poignant in this film and home an Oscar for The Holdovers. It's got great storytelling, some sad and some funny moments...very poignant. You just can't compare Cillian Murphy's frozen long stare to Paul Giamatti's numerous emotes. Murphy went straight from Netflix series to an Oscar movie--they should've waited another 10 years to award him...let him pay some more dues. Giamatti's performance was vastly superior.

Great movie!

Very lovable movie about otherwise unlovable characters. Outstanding performances by Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, and Carrie Preston are honest, layered, and endearing. The movie is written and directed in a touching, perceptive, and understatedly humorous manner. The depth of sympathy the audience feels for the entire cast, from the schoolmates to the faculty to parents, is unique and commendable. Love the cinematography and the way the set and costumes capture the time period as authentically as the story. We will be back to this movie on a regular basis.

This is a sleeper recommended to me by a friend--and could be a chapter out of my life. When I finally got into college in my mid-20s in the mountains of Tennessee I was faced with the problem of what to do with myself on those occasions (Christmas, summer break) when all the other students went home. The tone and experiences of this film match mine. Excellent cast. Very well-told story arc. And an Oscar in it for the woman who played the prep-school cook--superbly. (I want her to be my grandmother or, at least, my mentor!)

Pretty good movie, nothing extraordinary though. Better if you can view for free bc it wasn’t much of an attention grabber and was rather predictable; but a decent watch nonetheless.