THE HOLDOVERS HAS A WHOLESOME HEART AND A CAST WHO UNDERSTAND SUBTLE STORYTELLING

THE HOLDOVERS

DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne

CAST: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston and Dominic Sessa

Let’s start with a confession. I went to see this movie mainly because of Paul Giamatti as well as Da’Vine’s acceptance speeches. It was obvious that she was special and that’s not even on screen!

Halfway through the film, I sat back with the thought in my head that this was a comfortable movie and it was strange to get that word foremost in my mind with an Alexander Payne movie. He’s someone who deals mainly in characters and relationships and these are never comfortable.

Sideways, Nebraska, Citizen Ruth and About Schmidt are some of his best and when you look at the casting, he is obviously an actor’s director. His choices are always smart and often quirky, like Carrie Preston who one feels should now be given a starring role. She’s got the chops and has done her bit as character actor.

Boys having fun: Michael Provost, Dominic Sessa and Brady Hepner.

But back to the movie. After a rather sluggish start, it suddenly gets life. It’s not that Payne goes into overdrive but he shows why he chose these specific actors to tell this rather subtle and slow-paced film.

It’s a story about three oddball characters thrown together and how they move backwards, forwards and sideway to see how it can work. There aren’t any surprises. You know from the start that things will turn out well. It’s the way they get there and the how Payne softly nudges his actors to tell this story.

If you hear that Giamatti’s tough-toffee character is given a wandering eye as well as a lingering body odour, it already gets a smile but it also explains many of his character traits.

Paul Giamatti (centre) with a few schoolboys including Sessa (left).

While Da’Vine’s award season has been quite dramatic, her character is a much gentler yet really wise woman. As a large black woman living in a country where colour is barely tolerated, you know she knows how to make herself invisible and how to survive without compromise. She’s that gal. She knows she has to look out for herself, no one else will.

But she also has a heart that is large enough to keep a watchful eye over all the broken-winged creatures in her vicinity.

Giamatti plays true to form. He isn’t capable of a bad performance that’s why I try never to miss a movie. His films are always all about the characters and he knows how to fill those out delicately but with kick when needed.

The newcomer also does a fine star turn. He has strong competition but youth is on his side and he holds back and gives when the story or character demands.

Payne says he wanted to make a good, old-fashioned 70’s film with no CGI razzmatazz and that’s exactly what he achieved. Catch it at the one off cinemas that are still screening it.

In Gauteng you can catch it at Ster Kinekor’s Rosebank Nouveau and in Cape Town at The Labia Theatre