It's been twenty years since "Sideways", but director Alexander Payne hasn't lost his idiosyncratic touch. In this 2023 dramedy, he has reunited with Paul Giamatti for another custom-fit role, this time as Paul Hunham, a curmudgeonly classics professor hated by both his students and Dr. Woodrup, the headmaster. For flunking a son of a major donor, Woodrup punishes Hunham by forcing him to supervise a few students who have to stay on campus over the holidays. Ultimately just one ends up staying for the duration, Angus Tully, of course, the most obstreperous of the bunch. The rest of the movie follows Hunham, Angus, and cafeteria manager Mary Lamb as they haltingly bond over their respective states of emotional isolation. Payne elicits superb, multi-dimensional work from not only Giamatti but also Dominic Sessa as Angus. Unsurprisingly the standout is Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Mary, as she moves fluidly from stoic to vulnerable as her character deals with her son's recent death. She well deserved her Oscar. It's a shame there's been a plagiarism lawsuit filed in relation to the screenplay because the movie manages to transcend plot conventions to generate something quite impactful.