Like I said, this is a feel good Christmas film without the cliches.
I loved SIDEWAYS. I only checked that film out when I was about 13, because I was looking up who Thomas Haden Church is, as it was announced he was just cast in Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN 3. Knowing that he was nominated for an Academy Award I wanted to brush up on his films. In doing so, not only did I enjoy SIDEWAYS, Paul Giamatti and Alexander Payne have been on my radar ever since (along with Church).
Payne really gets the best out of his actors. The three leads carry the film so well. Paul Giamatti's performance as Paul Hunham absolutely warranted his Oscar nomination this year. You understand why he's a prick and uptight. Lots of layers that are peeled as the film progresses, and there's nuance to Giamatti's deliverance. Giamatti is one of those actors that can elevate a film no matter how big or small the role is and he truly captures the essence of some teachers we might have had in high school/college.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph is very good too as Mary Lamb. She's a cook working at the same school Giamatti's character teaches at. Randolph does a great job bottling up the death of her son in Vietnam, who also attended the school. There's no overacting in her end, her grieving is very subtle which I appreciated. She's trying to hold it together and when the film gets to the point where she's allowed to break, one can see why she won her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Dominic Sessa as the teen Angus Tully is remarkable. You would not have thought that this is his very first film debut. There's genuine quality on how the film develops his relationship with Giamatti's Dunham and they have great banter. Sessa also has good banter with some of the other holdovers before he's left entirely alone by his neglecting mother and step-father. You begin to understand why he acts out.
Also I liked Carrie Preston's small supporting role too. Everyone in the film is sarcastic, mean or depressed and she is the bright spot that radiates joy. I feel she's the catalyst for the three leads to open up and let their guard down a little.
Kudos to the production design and sets, shooting on location helped. Major props to Eigil Bryld the cinematographer and camera operator. You can feel like this film is the product of it's time. The film opens with the old Universal logo and a 70's retro-style title card for Focus Features and Miramax, so you already feel like you're transported.
The film is moving in understated and surprising ways. It has many great small moments that slowly, but profoundly change the characters. They are imperfect people you deplore in the beginning, but then find yourself rooting for, and in the end, ultimately identify with. As a big fan of Cillian Murphy, he was a lock for Best Actor, most of us knew this, but for me Paul Giamatti's was the most memorable.
If OPPENHEIMER and BARBIE were the antidote to blockbuster/franchise cogs, THE HOLDOVERS is the antidote to them.
9/10.
I loved SIDEWAYS. I only checked that film out when I was about 13, because I was looking up who Thomas Haden Church is, as it was announced he was just cast in Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN 3. Knowing that he was nominated for an Academy Award I wanted to brush up on his films. In doing so, not only did I enjoy SIDEWAYS, Paul Giamatti and Alexander Payne have been on my radar ever since (along with Church).
Payne really gets the best out of his actors. The three leads carry the film so well. Paul Giamatti's performance as Paul Hunham absolutely warranted his Oscar nomination this year. You understand why he's a prick and uptight. Lots of layers that are peeled as the film progresses, and there's nuance to Giamatti's deliverance. Giamatti is one of those actors that can elevate a film no matter how big or small the role is and he truly captures the essence of some teachers we might have had in high school/college.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph is very good too as Mary Lamb. She's a cook working at the same school Giamatti's character teaches at. Randolph does a great job bottling up the death of her son in Vietnam, who also attended the school. There's no overacting in her end, her grieving is very subtle which I appreciated. She's trying to hold it together and when the film gets to the point where she's allowed to break, one can see why she won her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Dominic Sessa as the teen Angus Tully is remarkable. You would not have thought that this is his very first film debut. There's genuine quality on how the film develops his relationship with Giamatti's Dunham and they have great banter. Sessa also has good banter with some of the other holdovers before he's left entirely alone by his neglecting mother and step-father. You begin to understand why he acts out.
Also I liked Carrie Preston's small supporting role too. Everyone in the film is sarcastic, mean or depressed and she is the bright spot that radiates joy. I feel she's the catalyst for the three leads to open up and let their guard down a little.
Kudos to the production design and sets, shooting on location helped. Major props to Eigil Bryld the cinematographer and camera operator. You can feel like this film is the product of it's time. The film opens with the old Universal logo and a 70's retro-style title card for Focus Features and Miramax, so you already feel like you're transported.
The film is moving in understated and surprising ways. It has many great small moments that slowly, but profoundly change the characters. They are imperfect people you deplore in the beginning, but then find yourself rooting for, and in the end, ultimately identify with. As a big fan of Cillian Murphy, he was a lock for Best Actor, most of us knew this, but for me Paul Giamatti's was the most memorable.
If OPPENHEIMER and BARBIE were the antidote to blockbuster/franchise cogs, THE HOLDOVERS is the antidote to them.
9/10.