The Holdovers: Alexander Payne goes for old-school aesthetics and sensibilities in this dramedy, and he gets the sorrow of the Holidays and the distance from loved ones right. He tells the story of a preparatory school teacher who gets stuck during the Holidays taking care of the few students who can’t leave school in those weeks. The acting of the central trio is on point: Da’Vine Joy Randolph plays the grieving mother with sweet simplicity in a quiet and effective turn; Dominic Sessa plays the smart-ass student with enough charm and defiance to justify his presence there. The star of the show, in any case, is Paul Giamatti, who plays the pedantic disciplinarian, a teacher who is unliked by most around him; Giamatti is always quite good with the heart-of-gold curmudgeon type he plays here. It helps immensely that the characters are more complex and rich than they seem at first. Editor Kevin Tent gives the film an entertaining pace, a task made easier by how engaging the characters are. Cinematographer Eigil Bryld’s work is no-frills and elegant, and he captures well the fine work of production designer Ryan Warren Smith and costume designer Wendy Chuck.