Watch Paul Giamatti in the first trailer for ‘The Holdovers’
Renowned director Alexander Payne is back with his first film in six years, following 2017’s critically panned Downsizing, with The Holdovers. Starring Sideways actor Paul Giamatti in a leading role almost exactly 20 years after their first collaboration, this marks Payne’s eighth feature film, which is being distributed courtesy of Focus Features.
Set in the 1970s at a New England prep school, The Holdovers will follow a surly teacher, played by Giamatti, who is obliged to stay on campus during the Christmas break to supervise a few students who can’t go home. In the process, he forges unexpected friendships with a brainy but troubled student, portrayed by newcomer Dominic Sessa, and the school’s head cook who grieves over her son’s death in Vietnam.
David Hemingson, known for his work on popular TV series like Black-ish and Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23, wrote the screenplay. Universal oversees the film’s international release. Payne recently shared that reuniting with Giamatti for The Holdovers had been a long-held ambition since their Sideways collaboration in 2004.
Payne stated, “Ever since I worked with Paul, I’ve wanted to work with him again, and this role is tailor-made for him. I continue to think now as I did then. I hate to use the term ‘the finest actor of his generation’ because there are so many wonderful actors, but when I worked with him on Sideways, I was astounded by his range.”
Speaking to Deadline, the director continued to explain what exactly it was about Giamatti that he admired, saying, “As a director, you want actors who can make even bad dialogue work, and he can do that. He can just do anything. I think it’s a matter of time before he gets his Oscar.”
Fans of the director have additional news to rejoice, as Payne is set to direct the sequel to his hit 1999 comedy Election, titled Tracy Flick Can’t Win, starring Reese Witherspoon. The Holdovers is slated for a limited theatrical release on November 10th, with a wider release scheduled for November 22nd. Watch the trailer below.
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