Deborah Ross

Sincere, heartfelt, true: The Holdovers reviewed

Rest assured that this uninspirational teacher film never goes all Dead Poets Society

Sincere, heartfelt, true: Paul Giamatti (Paul Hunham) and Dominic Sessa (Angus Tully) in The Holdovers. Credit: Seacia Pavao/© 2023 Focus Features LLC 
issue 20 January 2024

The first thing to say about Alexander Payne’s latest, The Holdovers, is that it’s not so much an inspirational teacher film as an uninspirational teacher film. You should know that before attending the cinema otherwise you might sit throughout in the brace position, fearing it could go all Dead Poets Society at any moment.

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