Role: Paul Hunman
Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers is sort of a feel-good, old-fashioned, sentimental dramedy.
The Hollywood vet actor Paul Giamatti was launched into Oscar contender status upon The Holdovers‘ debut at Telluride Film Fest, on August 31, 2023.
Subsequent screenings of the movie brought more praise for the movie overall, but also more specifically for Giamatti’s performance.
The film opened in limited theatrical release on October 27, 2023, and will be followed by wider platform on November 10 by Focus Features.
Set in the early 1970s, the film follows Paul Hunham, a disliked teacher at Barton Academy, who’s responsible for supervising students that are unable to return home for the Christmas holidays.
Hunham is forced to deal with one rebellious but troubled student named Angus (Dominic Sessa), who is grieving the loss of his father.
The supporting cast includes stand-outs by Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb; Carrie Preston as Miss Lydia Crane; Gillian Vigman as Judy Clotfelter; Tate Donovan as Stanley Clotfelter.
If Paul Giamatti is nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for The Holdovers, it would mark his second nomination, but the first in the lead category.
He had previously received Best Supporting Actor nomination in 2006 for Cinderella Man. He lost that award to George Clooney in Syriana.
The main reason Clooney won was the fact that in the same year, he was also nominated for the Best Picture and Best Director for Good Night and Good Luck.
Giamatti could now look to finally win an Oscar by re-teaming with Alexander Payne. Their prior collaboration, Sideways, won a screenplay Oscar even though Giamatti was not individually nominated for his performance.
Of Interest:
Alexander Payne’s Election, 1999 (for me, it is still his greatest film to date).
