Payne and his team recreate the early 1970s in such meticulous fashion that you could be forgiven for thinking the film was actually made 50 years ago.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 17, 2025

I didn't know anything about this film but was completely floored by it. I was happily surprised by this story; the performances, script, and message. We don't get movies like this anymore so I'm very appreciative of this.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 13, 2024

One of my favorite films in recent memory. Between the memorable script, performances, and overall look of the film--I loved every bittersweet moment of this film.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 13, 2024

Featuring a winning trio of actors all giving scintillating performances, The Holdovers marks a stunning return to form for Alexander Payne.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Sep 3, 2024

In a time when things often seem so hopeless, when the same forces of inequality and military injustices plague our own world, perhaps it’s this film’s realistic salve that makes it resonate so strongly.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jul 20, 2024

Despite the anxiety and even sadness its story exudes, it’s a movie so in love with its characters, and so steadfast in its humanist convictions, that it reaches into your soul and melts even the most frozen of hearts.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 19, 2024

The Sideways actor-director duo combine once again for a terrific, bittersweet rumination on life, love and grief.

| Jul 17, 2024

Giamatti and Payne are a movie match made in heaven

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jul 12, 2024

Payne crafts a movie about the human condition and the loveliness and messiness that goes with it.

| Original Score: A | Jul 4, 2024

Unfortunately, The Holdovers really lives up to its name. ... Worth seeing for its playful homage to a very specific slice of cinema history, for its three lead performances, and for a few very good scenes that come before those last, long 30 minutes.

| Original Score: B+ | Apr 29, 2024

Randolph takes the pain and the imminent grief that her character is feeling to the core, making her chain-smoking adaptation to the situation, while watching the game shows and interacting with the other characters all the more impactful.

| Apr 17, 2024

Absolutely nothing new happens in Alexander Payne’s surprisingly warm and fuzzy film, but it’s a perfectly fine way to while away 135 minutes. And — who knows? — you might even remember some well-worn yet valuable life lessons.

| Apr 1, 2024

Anchored by Giamatti’s compelling central performance ..., The Holdovers takes a meaningful dive into a complex world of emotional conflict

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 27, 2024

"The Holdovers" should become a holiday movie classic for audiences to return to every Thanksgiving to keep some perspective on human nature, hypocrisy, and the importance of having a warm heart and a calm mind.

| Original Score: FIVE STARS | Mar 17, 2024

A small-scale gem that, by utilizing a 1970s setting, manages to recall the intimate cinema of that period.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 12, 2024

Giamatti’s performance is a pleasure to watch. He is the presiding presence in the movie, and David Hemingson’s erudite screenplay allows him free range to deliver long lines of invective.

| Mar 8, 2024

It's the beautifully-written characters and the actors that inhabit them that will surely receive the most plaudits

| Original Score: 5 | Feb 28, 2024

A new American classic.

| Feb 27, 2024

In a film that manages to be touching and consistently funny, you won’t be surprised to learn that a rapport develops between existentially miserable Paul, who seeks solace in Jim Beam and Marcus Aurelius, and prickly, troublesome Angus.

| Feb 18, 2024

Giamatti doesn’t let Paul’s character tics, which include a prominent lazy eye, to distract from the more subtle aspects of his performance.

| Feb 17, 2024