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“The Holdovers”
This is a unique film on multiple levels. Paul Giamatti has already won the Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Best Actor awards and Da’Vine Joy Randolph similar awards along with the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress.
You will watch Mr. Giamatti play Paul Hunham, a curmudgeonly, New England prep school instructor. Single, with no family, he is disliked by nearly all students and fellow teachers.
The film centers on the Christmas break in 1970 where Giamatti was forced to remain on campus supervising a small group of students with nowhere to go. The only other adult is the school’s head cook, brilliantly played by the above-mentioned Ms. Randolph, whose son just died in Vietnam.
Only one student, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), remained after the others found a trip home. A brainy troublemaker, Angus is bitter that his divorced mother remarried and cancelled their holiday trip to St. Kitts.
Giamatti is captivating as a stern history teacher who simply wants Angus to follow his demands and keep his distance. But he starts to melt as he spends time drinking booze with a depressed Ms. Randolph who mourns the death of her only son.
In the process, the spirit of Christmas helps the three of them merge as a troubled family. It encourages Giamatti to buy an old Christmas tree to share with them and drive Angus to Boston to visit his father in an institution.
But what grabs your heart is watching Ms. Randolph gather her dead son’s possessions and give them to her pregnant sister. Be prepared to wipe a few tears from your eyes.
Take the time to see this great film. It captures the Christmas spirit in a way you will never forget.
“The Zone of Interest”
To begin with, I was quite excited to see this film after watching the trailer. However, the disappointment was profound. Tragically, the movie reminded me of watching a film about a family that ran a slave plantation in Alabama before the Civil War.
In summary, Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), the commandant of Auschwitz for over 3 years in 1943, and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) live in a dream home with their 5 children next to the extermination camp. They have a small pool and a flower garden next to the prison wall topped with barbed wire.
The principle short coming of the film is that it seldom goes into the camp to watch how over 1 million jews were put to death. Instead of being able to absorb the pain experienced by these transported victims of Nazi hatred, you only watch the daily lives of the Höss family. It becomes a German version of a “Leave it to Beaver” family show!
There were a few moments that left you shaking your head in disgust. Without saying more, you hated Hedwig after watching her trying on a fur coat among other clothes brought from the camp, not to mention having human ashes spread on her flowers for fertilization.
Hedwig was a great Nazi girl. She loved her home to such an extent that she decided to stay as an Auschwitz neighbor rather than move with her husband when he was transferred. Sadly, while the film suddenly ends before Hitler was defeated, it didn’t show Höss being hung after the Nuremburg trials. Nor do you know what happened to the delightful Hedwig.
Let me conclude by noting that the film begins and ends with several minutes of a blank screen where music is played. That was the best part of the movie.•
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Robert Hammerle specializes in criminal law as of counsel with Hackman Hulett LLP. When he is not in the courtroom or the office, Bob can likely be found at one of his favorite movie theaters preparing to review the latest films. To read more of his reviews, visit www.bigmouthbobs.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
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