The Holdovers (15)

★★★★✭ Raise a glass (just not Merlot) as the Sideways dream team of Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti reunite for a future festive favourite which is arguably the best film yet from each of them. ~ ManchesterTheatres.com.

---

Alexander Payne reunites with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti in a film that strikes the perfect balance between pathos and playfulness. 

The Holdovers is just the kind of warm-hearted and thoughtful work we have come to expect from one of contemporary cinema’s great humanist filmmakers. 

As the students of New England prep school Barton Academy excitedly depart for the winter holidays, a ragtag bunch with nowhere to go are forced to stay behind.

Making things worse, their appointed ‘babysitter’ is the cantankerous Professor Hunham. But as the days pass, the grumpy professor forms an unexpected bond with smart-but-troubled student Angus, and Mary, the school’s cook, who is grieving the loss of her son.

---

★★★★ The most scintillating festive movie in years. ~ Little White Lies.

★★★★ The spirit of the American New Wave lives on in this curmudgeonly Christmas drama that hides a big heart and a hopeful outlook beneath its withering putdowns. ~ Radio Times.

★★★★★ Alexander Payne's best work since Sideways. ~ Total Film.

★★★★★ Uncork your finest bottle of wine (not Merlot) and rejoice. Because one of cinema’s greatest actor-director duos, Paul Giamatti and Alexander Payne — who are to stories about born losers what De Niro and Scorsese are to ones about charismatic criminals — are back with a brand-new groove. ~ Empire.

★★★★★ Payne returns with one of his funniest, sharpest, and most humane comedies to date. ~ The Scotsman.

★★★★ The director makes a welcome return to form with a warm and melancholic 70s-set comedy drama led by a trio of note-perfect performances. ~ The Guardian.

★★★★ Paul Giamatti shines as a teacher forced to look after pupils over the Christmas break, in a terrific 1970s-set period piece. ~ Telegraph.

★★★★ It’s a bittersweet callback to a golden age when there were a whole lot more movies like this one. ~ Time Out.

★★★★★ This magical film should win Paul Giamatti an Oscar. ~ The i.

★★★★ A masterclass in melancholy, Sideways director Payne reunites with that film’s star for a 70s-set tale of a boarding school’s Christmas holiday left-behinds that’s as achingly sharp as it is funny. ~ Observer.

★★★★★ Those hoping for another Giamatti masterclass here will more than get their money's worth. He's better than he was in Sideways. But here's the thing: Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa are every bit as brilliant. ~ RTE.

★★★★ The plot structure may seem familiar but it’s the mood that matters most, as does the gorgeous depiction of complex characters in crisis. ~ The Times.

★★★★★ It’s funny and soulful, and Giamatti is sublime as a man hiding behind his own popularity. ~ Irish Independent.

★★★★★ While Payne’s masterpiece is bound to become a new staple in the Christmas movie canon, the fact is filmmaking as note-perfect and beautifully calibrated as this can be enjoyed any time of year. ~ Sunday Irish Independent.