The Holdovers Footage Reaction: Paul Giamatti And Alexander Payne Will Jerk Your Tears [CinemaCon 2023]
Director Alexander Payne has delivered some true gems in his career, including "The Descendants" and "Nebraska." But Payne's last step up to the plate, "Downsizing," was admittedly a bit of a mixed bag. Now though, he's reuniting with Paul Giamatti, who he previously collaborated with nearly 20 years ago on "Sideways" for a brand new film, "The Holdovers." The first look at the much-anticipated film was recently showcased at CinemaCon.
The industry showcase is currently taking place in Las Vegas, and /Film's very own Ben Pearson is on the ground taking in all of the footage as it comes in. In this case, he got an early look at "The Holdovers," which centers on a misanthropic teacher (Giamatti) at an elite prep school in New England who must live his worst nightmare: taking in the kids who don't have anywhere to go over Christmas break. Despite himself, he ends up forming a bond with an equally misanthropic troublemaker played by newcomer Dominic Sessa, with the help of his only friend at the school, the head cook who lost her son in Vietnam (Da'Vine Joy Randolph). Here's what to expect.
Alexander Payne returns at CinemaCon
The footage starts off with Paul Giamatti's teacher character handing out pre-winter break grades, with one student lamenting over his failing grades. As laid out above, this school is a prep academy, so not every student will be able to go home for the holidays, much to the dismay of the teacher. At least he won't be alone in looking after these kids, as the school's cook and the teacher's friend (Randolph) is also sticking around.
Unfortunately, it seems like he's not starting off on the best foot with this temporary gig. After getting into a slight argument with one of the titular holdover kids, he angrily exclaims that he wishes the kid's dad picked him up from school. There's a problem with that, though, and that's that the kid's dad is dead, something he relays to Giamatti's character. After being chastised by the cook for his behavior, he decides to give this guardianship thing another shot. Maybe now, he and his troublesome student can actually find some common ground.
Given how this is a Christmas dramedy, this is probably the case, but we won't know for certain until "The Holdovers" opens in limited theaters on November 10, 2023. Don't worry, though, because it'll open nationwide shortly after on November 22.