It is likely that Paul Giamatti win the Oscar he deserved for Between glasses (they hadn’t even nominated him) on March 10 for this film. His is a lovable character no matter how you look at it, but also hateful, cynical and somewhat intolerant.
Giamatti, also seen in Jungle Cruise, Rock of Ages y The lady in the water, is generally not offered leading roles, and has provided the voice for several animated works. The teacher who composes, with a crossed eye, is a solitary and methodical guy. He makes people angry and has no friends.
The end of year holidays are approaching in 1970, and at the school where Barton works, someone has to stay during those days to accompany and take care of the students who cannot go visit their parents at their homes. Since Paul Hunham has no one, he is the perfect candidate.
Hence the title Those who stay: a handful of students, Paul and Mary Lamb, in charge of the school kitchen.
It’s not Those who stay as The death poet Society, Peter Weir’s film in which the professor played by Robin Williams was loved by almost everyone. No. Paul is stubborn, he smokes a pipe and wears a hat, and if he can make life miserable for the students, he will. Did he ever have a girlfriend?
So what could go wrong?
The protagonists are three: Paul, Mary, the cook, and Angus Tally (Dominc Sessa), the student who was kicked out of three schools in a short time. The relationship is between the three, but, above all, that of the teacher and the student will be central to Alexander Payne’s new great film.
About relationships
Giamatti, y Da’Vine Joy Randolph They are Oscar candidates (Dominic Sessa should have entered), Giamatti as the main actor, she as a supporting performer. And they are winning.
And they are more than well used by Payne, who returns after 6 years of silence, after Little big life, with Matt Damon. Payne is a director with a particular view on human relationships (The descendantscon George Clooney; Between glasseswith Giamatti), which returns to the collegiate atmosphere (as in Electionwith Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon) to delve into how lonely it can be when you lose a lot.
They are three solitaries, in truth, for different reasons, which the viewer will discover as the projection develops.
And, as in NebraskaPayne worries about the father and son relationship that Angus wants, more than to recompose, to understand.
But except for that sequence, which it accompanies, who is on the screen almost all the time is Paul Giamatti’s character. Paul can do fuck off when they ask him to be quiet in the cinema, see little big man and be ecstatic. When there is a character like Paul, who we discover scene after scene, who grows, who does not remain at the first observation, we are faced with a great performer, a very good director and a film that buys us.
Dramatic comedy. United States, 2023. Original title: “The Holdovers”. 133’, SAM 13. Of: Alexander Payne. Con: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa. Salas: Hoyts Abasto, Cinemark Palermo and Avellaneda, Cinépolis Recoleta, Avellaneda and Pilar, Showcase Belgrano, Norcenter and Haedo.