Rent The Holdovers on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: David Hemingson
Directed by: Alexander Payne
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go.
Verdict
This is a great script. While it does what you expect, it does it so well and it feels authentic from the characters to the dialog and production. Setting this in 1970 certainly helps give it a memoir type of feel while distancing it from the poorer examples in the genre. Every scene has a purpose, building
characters and plot.
Watch It.
Review
Payne's last movie Downsizing, wasn't as introspective as I had hoped. I generally like his movie for their angle.
This centers on instructor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) and student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) at a boys boarding school in 1970. Hunham isn't well regarded by the students or staff. Even on the last day before Christmas break Hunham is making the students work. The principal tells him to act like a human.
 |
| Dominic Sessa, Paul Giamatti play, Angus Tully, Paul Hunham |
As Angus is getting ready to leave for break his mom asks him to stay at school, not a promising prospect for anyone, so that she and her new husband can have a honeymoon despite being married for months. There's plenty we could read into that, but this is about Hunham and Angus's relationship. Angus is stuck at the school over break with a handful of boys and a curmudgeon of a teacher. With this setup, it's a good guess bonding will occur.
Hunham is stuck on campus too, tasked with watching the students as the principal doesn't like him. The only other adult is the lunch lady who flatly tells Hunham her son "hated" him as a teacher. Hunham is making the students exercise and study over break. Is he bored, needs something to do, or just likes to punish the kids? When the few students remaining leave with a rich kid's father for a winter vacation, Angus and thus Hunham are stuck on campus together.
Angus steals the school keys and does everything against the rules which culminates in a chase around campus that isn't fair to Hunham. The two have a few moments. Angus covers for Hunham at the hospital, they attend a Christmas party, and the two spend the day in Boston. They get to know each other and are quite blunt. Both are outcasts that no one likes. I began to wonder if Hunham is so difficult and dismissive because of a past hurt. If you let no one in, you're never hurt. He does mention an engagement that didn't pan out. Was there more to it?
 |
| Paul Giamatti plays Paul Hunham |
This is a character study. When Hunham meets an old college classmate, he lies about his job and position. Hunham doesn't admit he's a high school teacher. Angus was present and of course has questions after helping with Hunham's cover story. The pacing of this is great. Each time I began to suspect there is more to the story, another piece of information is revealed.
Hunham and Angus return to school and their relationship is certainly different now, though we expected them to bond. They know personal information about the other, but their break was outside of time and place. Once school resumes, their adventures are just a memory. Hunham always comes off as so condescending as he quotes Latin and history. We have insight now, but the idea of this movie is how teachers and students don't know each other outside of school. In school they maintain this facade, outside of the classroom they learn something real.
Hunham makes a surprising gesture for Angus. In their last conversation Hunham makes a callback to an earlier conversation, responding to an unanswered question. This scene does a lot of work as it caps the movie, and part of it is Hunham admitting he and Angus will never see each other again.
No comments :
Post a Comment