The Holdovers

A rather tepid Christmas film from Payne. I'm not his biggest fan, I like my comedies a bit sharper and a tad more overt, but his films rarely dip below a certain level. There were moments in The Holdovers where I felt Payne should've done better though, unless he truly aimed to make a cheesy Christmas flick.

It's the holidays, and while most students of a prestigious school are going home to their families, a grumpy teacher (Paul) and a few ill-fated boys have to stay behind on the school premises. Nobody likes Paul, because Paul isn't interested in being a popular teacher. But during his stay, he grows closer to the kids left behind.

So yeah, guess how this film ends. The dialogues aren't too bad and there is some fun wordplay going on, but apart from that, it's all very dusty and predictable. The characters were rather boring, while the drama felt stiff and repetitive. Performances were okay, but nobody was excelling either. A very middling film, stretched way too thin.