★★★★

There’s a scene in The Holdovers in which Paul Giamatti’s cantankerous classics teacher, Mr. Hunham, hobbles out on Christmas morning to buy a tree. It’s a last minute plug to reintroduce festivity unto the emptied out halls of his workplace, the Barton Academy boarding school. Such proves a melancholy sight. A shonky spruce, sparsely decorated, and tilting tiredly to the right. And yet, it’s a gesture of hope too. An image of merriment. In many ways, this weary symbol of seasonal fancy embodies The Holdovers, which ambles into cinemas several weeks late for Christmas. The film reminds of joyful days past, even as a long, bleak winter sets in. Nailed is that happy-sad sweet spot all too often felt in the so-called most wonderful season of all.