The Holdovers review: Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti reunite with a charming and disarming tale

Due to his unpopularity, and not in any way due to his aptitude with young people, Hunham is left after the winter term with the ‘holdover’ students who are not going home for Christmas, and are instead stuck languishing at Barton. Hunham, given the disparaging nickname ‘Walleye’ by his pupils, has been urged by the headmaster to try and “act like a human being” for the holidays. His holding over colleague, school chef Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), is likewise a sharp critic of his acerbic ways.