The Holdovers  ★★★★

TWO decades after Sideways, Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti have triumphantly reunited for The Holdovers.

This film is a joy from start to finish, beautifully combining comedy and drama in a story that effortlessly crosses age, class and race divides.

Giamatti has previously shown that there is almost no character type he can’t play and is fantastic here as a curmudgeonly educator forced to his place and purpose in work and life.

David Hemingson’s great feature writing debut is set in the winter of 1970 at a New England boarding school where Giamatti’s character, Paul Hunham, is an incredibly knowledgeable veteran classic professor.

You might think Dead Poet’s Society and a teacher throwing the rule book away to inspire his young charges. But Paul is a bit of a jerk to both his students, fellow teachers and even the school administrator. He’s been there a long time and everyone, including Paul, is feeling the years.

He’s already in the bad books for demanding standards that can’t be met by some of the school’s richest clientele which leads to him being given the unpopular task of looking after the ‘holdovers’ for that Christmas break – the handful of students who have nowhere else to go.

Things brings Paul into close contact with one of his better students, Angus Tully, and the school’s cafeteria boss Mary Lamb.

They all bring strong back stories to the central theme of them trying to get along and make the most of a difficult situation.

It’s a lovely film that treats all the characters with respect and gives them believable growth arcs.

It may be Payne’s best film and one of Giamatti’s best performances.