“The Holdovers” focuses in on Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham, a Classics teacher at an all-boys boarding school in the early ’70s. Disliked by most of the students and staff, he’s put in charge of keeping watch over any of the boys who end up spending their winter break at the school. Da’Vine Joy Randolph plays Mary, one of the cooks who stays in part because her son died in Vietnam and she doesn’t want to see her extended family. The only student who ends up staying the whole season is Angus (newcomer Dominic Sessa), whose rebellious spirit underlies a sweet heart.
There’s a version of this movie that is saccharine and sweet, but director Alexander Payne brings the story right to the sticky line without crossing it. Giamatti is sensational as Paul, who’s always more complicated and odd than he seems (the character will ring true for anyone who, like me, took Latin in high school). Randolph shines (though I long for when she’ll get a leading role in a movie like this), and Sessa is so great I couldn’t believe this was his first professional role.