Comedy equals tragedy plus time. It’s a well-worn adage in the world of comedy, and comedic writing, the notion that the best comedy comes from a place of pain, not joy. It’s an adage that Alexander Payne has honed throughout his career as a writer and director, and it applies to his latest film The Holdovers.

There’s plenty of comedy to be found in The Holdovers, thanks to first-time feature screenwriter David Hemingson’s razor-sharp dialogue, and there’s plenty of tragedy to be found within its characters. The film serves as a kind of chamber piece between its three main protagonists: there’s Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), a functioning alcoholic history teacher; there’s Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), a chef; and there’s Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a student. What binds them all together is not just their surroundings – an august Catholic boarding school in New England in the 1970s – but their circumstances. Hunham is tasked with caring for the students over the Christmas holiday, and Tully is one of the few without a place to go, with Mary staying behind to provide their meals. They’re each alone, in one way or another, and the film is tasked with bringing them together.

Divulging the specifics of why each character is left behind would spoil some of the dramatic tension, but the film primarily deals with the theme of being forgotten, both emotionally and physically. Hemingson digs at the heart of each of the characters, making them feel unique and less like archetypes. Giamatti inhabits Hunham’s inherent sadness over his current lot in life, aspiring for greatness but never reaching it. Sessa – in his screen acting debut, no less – gives Tully the arrogance of a kid who’s smarter than his peers but not smart enough to know when to keep his mouth shut. He gives not only one of the most impressive acting debuts of the year, but one of the best performances of the year, period. It’s Randolph’s Mary that gets the short end of the stick, relatively speaking, though she is no less impressive with what she’s given. Still, one wishes that The Holdovers would linger a few more beats longer when the drama really gets going. Instead it frequently cuts away in favor of more plot beats.

There is an undoubtedly heartwarming aspect to The Holdovers that gets it through and ultimately makes it successful, regardless of its saccharine nature. It won’t take a genius to realize the overarching plot narrative from the get-go: here are three diametrically-opposed characters, forced to come together through unfavorable circumstances – with a little Holiday Cheer thrown in for good measure. But it’s the attention to detail within the characters, especially the relationship between Giamatti and Sessa, that allows The Holdovers to overcome the warm-and-fuzzies.

Payne has always excelled at taking prickly and sad characters and making them likeable, even loveable sometimes. Paul Hunham belongs right alongside memorable characters like Tracy Flick (Election) or Woody Grant (Nebraska) or Miles Raymond (Sideways). Payne makes no doubts about why Hunham is unlikeable early and often – he not only fails almost all his students in their winter final, but assigns a makeup test immediately after they return from break. Thankfully the warming of his heart isn’t a steady upward slope, but contains a few bumps along the way.

I wasn’t completely won over by The Holdovers, but there’s no denying it’s a very enjoyable film, best experienced with a big crowd. I feel tempted to see it again, if only because there were several lines that were inaudible because my audience was laughing so raucously. It’s the kind of film that would have cleaned up at the Oscars in the 90s because of its delicate balancing act between drama and comedy, and its unique blend of characters. As I left the theater, my first thought was that I know my parents (both of whom grew up in the 70s) will love The Holdovers – don’t take that as a backhanded compliment – but it easily appeals to audiences of all generations, allowing us to see something within at least one of its misfit characters.

The Holdovers was screened as a Special Presentation at the 2023 Heartland International Film Festival. The film will be released in select theaters on October 27 and everywhere on November November 10.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• A Best Picture nomination is a sure bet and, in a year without such a strong front-runner (Oppenheimer), The Holdovers could win.
• Best Director is always a tough nut to crack, and it will be tough this year with two virtual locks – Nolan and Scorsese – but the Academy generally likes Payne, so I would not be shocked to see him receive a nomination.
• Giamatti and Randolph are surefire bets (Giamatti slightly less so) in Lead Actor and Supporting Actress, and I can easily see a world where Dominic Sessa receives a nomination as well. Normally first-time performances go unrecognized, but if the Academy loves the film overall, there’s no denying Sessa’s work.
• An Original Screenplay nomination is similarly locked, and possibly a win as well. Payne is an Oscar screenplay winner, and even though he did not write The Holdovers, it still feels like enough of his “brand” to possibly make Academy voters forget that little fact.