It’s rare for me to consider a twenty-first century holiday flick an instant classic, but the second I saw the vintage title cards of The Holdovers (Disc/Download), I knew I would be watching this film every December, without fail, for the rest of my life. Move over Carol, The Holiday, and Love Actually; there’s a new tradition in my house.
Set during Christmas 1970, The Holdovers reunites director Alexander Payne with his Sideways muse Paul Giamatti. The comparisons to that movie are inevitable because once again, Giamatti plays a teacher who has failed to live up to his full potential. He spews intelligent insults, drinks a lot, and is extremely awkward with women. However, pairing him with a teenage boy (Dominic Sessa) instead of a fully grown man who acts like a teenage boy brings a new layer to the his performance. He’s a protector instead of a sidekick. And to the cook who’s forced to stay over with him and the boy at an abandoned New England boarding school over Christmas: friend and ally. Da’Vine Joy Randolph rightly won the Best Supporting Actress for her role as the grieving mother who just lost her only child to the Vietnam War, and seeing her bring so much nuance to this performance is watching a master at work. She makes it look easy, when it was probably anything but. Really, the whole movie could be described this way. If you told me this film was actually made in 1970, I would believe you because the cinematography, the production design, the soundtrack, and the costumes are all seamless. There is nothing that hints at the year 2023, and nothing to indicate the level of work it must have taken to achieve this kind of authenticity. Because of that, we can just sit back and enjoy a movie that already feels like it’s been part of our lives for the last fifty years.
My favorite scene in The Holdovers involves our three principal characters in the parking lot of a Boston restaurant, enjoying Cherries Jubilee “to go”. If you’re familiar with the dessert, then you know it’s prepared tableside, with cherries and brandy lit on fire, then spooned over ice cream. This cocktail uses that cherry flavor while also referencing the giant bottle of Cognac stolen from the headmaster’s office. If you’ve gotta go, go big. While watching The Holdovers, I recommend drinking a Vanderbilt cocktail.
Vanderbilt
1 1/2 oz Cognac
1/2 oz Cherry Heering Liqueur
1/8 oz Simple Syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Brandied cherry, lemon twist (garnish)
Stir ingredients together in a mixing tin with ice, then strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a brandied cherry and lemon twist.
Of course, you could always opt for a bottle of Miller Highlife (it is the champagne of beers), however I prefer to bring a little class to this party. After all, it’s a very fancy boarding school full of very fancy people who may or may not have learned some valuable knowledge in exchange for their pricey tuition. Entre nous, I’m pretty sure the biggest lessons happened outside the classroom. Cheers!
Cinema Sips 