Mattress Man’s review published on Letterboxd:
My freshman year of college, I stayed on campus for Thanksgiving. It wasn't because I didn't have a place to return to, and more that I was simply having too good a time and didn't want to leave. That said, even though I was amongst my friends and a handful of staff, there was still a curious sadness to that whole period: like we should have made the journey to go and see our families, in spite of the fact that, for that one holiday, we effectively were each other's family.
"The Holdovers" is Alexander Payne's prickly comedy about this very specific form of seasonal melancholy, and whatever the movie's flaws may be, it captures that aforementioned sensation of being left behind in a sensitive, well-observed manner. I went back and forth on the film itself as I was watching it: I was alternately charmed and exasperated by it, which is not unusual for me when it comes to watching an Alexander Payne picture. Payne's more authentic films ("Election," "Nebraska," "Citizen Ruth") are also his most unsentimental, and "The Holdovers" often struggles to balance Payne's cynicism with the pathos that a story like this requires. It's a heartfelt movie, but also a slightly rickety one: one where you wince and laugh in tandem, and not always for the right reasons.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph is my personal pick for MVP, and Giamatti, bless him, manages to turn an assemblage of off-putting tics into a compelling, three-dimensional misanthrope. For how it eventually gives in to sappiness, the movie is funny and often genuinely surprising: for every scene that didn't work, another would sneak up on me and quietly floor me. There’s a strong possibility I’ll appreciate this one more upon revisiting. Then again, I could just watch “Nebraska” again.
