The Holdovers

alright I'm giving in and writing this review -- instead of doing what I first wanted to do which is let the aurelius quote at the bottom stand alone (and probably hit the hay an hour earlier) -- because this movie is too good for me to lose my first impressions on it to the sands of time. this is my favorite movie of the year. you should resist the temptation (if there's any, at all) to keep reading this, and you should schedule a time this week to see this movie. at worst, it's good and will spark conversation. at best, it's your movie of the year too. there won't be any spoilers beyond here per se but you should definitely go in naive and blind and naked. otherwise, here are my loosely organized chunks of thought: we're all human -- when shit happens in our lives, we get a little uglier. we get a little meaner. we don't have the bandwidth to be as supportive to those we love. it's really hard to avoid this effect, and unfortunately, for most people, shit is hitting the fan constantly. nobody's performing at 100% Kind Human at all times. doesn't mean you're unsalvageable. to me, the point of this movie is just to internalize that realization. at the outset, you think everyone in this movie besides mary is an asshole. very simply, the more screen time you get with angus and paul, the more you start to see them as redeemable. there isn't even anything special about these characters -- they're all pretty "normal" and take reasonable actions -- you simply understand them more and thus, understand and have compassion for their moments of roughness. in life, we should take the interpretation of those around us which gives them the most grace. if we assume they have reasons for the things they do, and that they hold no ill will towards us, we will be happier for it. but -- as with any growth -- internalizing this message is incredibly hard! the mindset shift takes intention and practice (perhaps via meditations written by a certain plot-relevant roman emperor-philosopher), and even then is difficult to live out All The Time. consider the difference in outcomes between the characters -- by the end of the film you've traveled this metaphorical journey with paul and angus, you have this beautiful mindset shift, you now see them as human and have compassion for their actions. but what about kountze -- do you still view him as an asshole? it seems like angus still does. is the dean, or angus's mom an asshole? paul still seems to think yes, and he's got 50 copies of meditations AND just had his perception on angus shifted. compassion is just plain hard! we should have compassion for people who don't have compassion for us! maybe they're just having a bad day! there's some other stoic takes I have here too regarding perception of the movie -- is your life really over if you're stuck at boarding school for the holidays? if you lose your job? what if you end up getting a world class ski trip out of it? what if it means you finally have an excuse to travel the world, and do the things on your bucket list? finally, is your life really over if you get sent to military school? this is the hard pill, but the true stoics, even in the face of curtis lamb, would say: “everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” ― marcus aurelius , meditations translation: you don't know if the things that happen to you are good or bad. all you can do is keep your head up, and know that you'll make it. it's not the end of the world to go to military school. whatever "it" is, it's not the end of the world. ... but enough stoicism -- as much as i love it, here are some other thoughts gorgeous aesthetic (film, good), beautiful soundtrack, really funny dialogue, gutting displays of emotion (angus and paul both had several), NICE framing (the close up shot in the fancy restaurant, the opening shoveling shot, the taxi window shot, the various framings of campus), a gorgeous setting, and an punch-packing portrayal of human connection (the liquor store stands out to me -- the rest of the world falls away completely in that scene). that final line... fuck man the time period -- for a movie that tries to paint itself (beautifully, i might add) as old timey, I think the themes are all incredibly relevant now. to me, the alienation of going through hardship (as stands in movie) and the alienation of tech creep and attention span deterioration (as stands today) could be swapped out and the movie would still stand pretty solidly. the cause is different and the setting's a little more cyberpunk, but in that movie the characters take the same actions and the messages hold strong for incels and ipad kids alike. for what it's worth, i actually appreciate that this wasn't that movie. the expectation play -- reflect on the movie and consider how many times you expected something to happen and it didn't. love, boston, dad, character count, ending, etc. consider what you expect from the movie at the opening -- look at the poster, look at the actors, watch the trailer -- to me these expectations were set then subversed, which kept things very entertaining in lieu of an "action packed" plot. I'm glad this movie was made. I liked it quite a bit.