THE HOLDOVERS: 4 STARS
鈥淭he Holdovers,鈥 a new drama starring Paul Giamatti and now playing in theatres, does such a good job of transporting the audience back to when a pint of Jim Bean only set you back $2 and it was still OK to smoke a pipe at a movie theatre, you鈥檒l swear it鈥檚 a long-lost artefact from the Nixon era.
The setting is Barton Academy, a New England old-money stopover for wealthy boys on their way to the Ivy League school of their choice. They are the future, or, as Ancient Civilizations professor Paul Hunham (Giamatti) calls them, 鈥渆ntitled little degenerates.鈥
Universally disliked by staff and students alike, Hunham is by-the-book, the kind of teacher who assigns heavy reading over the Christmas break, with the promise of an exam on the first day back.
鈥淥ur one purpose,鈥 he says, 鈥渋s to produce young men of character.鈥
Every year there are a handful of students who stay on campus over the two-week Christmas holiday, which means a teacher has to stay behind as chaperone. This year the duty falls to Hunham, who plans an intensive fortnight of studying, physical fitness and discipline for five boys abandoned by their parents.
鈥淵ou should go easy on them,鈥 says the school鈥檚 cook Mary (Da'Vine Joy Randolph).
鈥淥h please,鈥 Hunham snorts. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e had it easy their whole lives.鈥
When four of the five get a last-minute invite courtesy of a rich dad with a helicopter, the impromptu Breakfast Club is narrowed down to one, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a smart but troubled young man whose mom chose Christmas break to run off on a honeymoon with her new husband.
As the days pass, and Christmas approaches, the odd couple find common ground, and discover they aren鈥檛 as different as they thought.
鈥淭he Holdovers鈥 has a fairly simple set-up鈥攁 Scroogey character discovers his humanity by making a connection with a younger person, just in time for Christmas鈥攂ut it鈥檚 the film鈥檚 warmth, once you scratch through its icy facade, that鈥檒l win you over.
When he is referring to his students as 鈥渉ormonal vulgarians,鈥 Giamatti is at his curmudgeonly best, but there is more to him than fancy insults (although his put-down, 鈥測ou are penis cancer in human form鈥 is rather memorable) and walleyed glare. He鈥檚 a man deeply damaged by life, who now finds himself waging class warfare on the privileged kids he teaches at what is, essentially, a depository for rich boys.
A man out of time鈥斺淭he world doesn鈥檛 make sense anymore,鈥 he says.鈥攈e鈥檚 quick to anger, with a bubbling rage roiling just under the surface at all times, and even when he tries to be charming, he comes off as awkward at best. His idea of light, Christmas party conversation? 鈥淎eneas carried mistletoe when he went into Hades,鈥 he says to blank stares.
Giamatti keeps him watchable by making sure to access the character鈥檚 brokenness. His bluster is a mask for his heartache, and as he gradually makes connections with Angus and Mary, his defences lower, revealing his true self. It鈥檚 a touching, warm and Oscar-worthy performance hidden beneath an inch or two of insolence.
He is ably supported by newcomer Sessa, whose character鈥檚 actions lead to emotional growth as he forms an unlikely family as one third of a trio of misfits. It鈥檚 a touching performance, part swagger, part shattered, that hints at more great things to come from the young actor.
As Mary, a woman traumatized by the death of her only son in Vietnam, Randolph, who displays her comedic chops on "Only Murders in the Building," brings a poignant edge to the story as the glue that binds this impromptu family together.
鈥淭he Holdovers鈥 is a warmhearted coming-of-all-ages movie, but never succumbs to cheap melodrama or saccharine sentimentality. It鈥檚 an uplifting tale of, as Armistead Maupin put it, embracing your logical family instead of your biological one, that avoids the pitfalls of so many other movies about broken people.
PRISCILLA: 3 ½ STARS
鈥淧riscilla,鈥 a new film from director Sophia Coppola and now playing in theatres, is a bird in a gilded cage story set against the backdrop of loneliness and rock 鈥榥 roll superstardom.
The story begins in Germany, where 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) lives with her mother Ann (Dagmara Domi艅czyk) and stepfather Paul (Ari Cohen), a United States Air Force officer stationed at Wiesbaden, West Germany.
Her life is changed forever when, while doing homework at a coffeeshop, she is approached by Terry West (Luke Humphrey), an officer stationed with 24-year-old Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi in full-on 鈥淯h huh huh鈥 mode) in nearby Bad Nauheim.
鈥淵ou like Elvis Presley?鈥 he asks her.
鈥淥f course,鈥 she says. 鈥淲ho doesn鈥檛?鈥
Despite her parent鈥檚 reservations, Priscilla accepts West鈥檚 invitation to go to a party at Elvis鈥檚 home. She meets the "King of Rock 鈥榥 Roll," who, after inviting her to his bedroom, tells her he鈥檚 homesick and just wants to talk to talk to somebody 鈥渇rom home.鈥
Caught up in the fantasy of having Elvis all to herself, Priscilla falls hard.
The chaste romance continues, with some rules from set by Priscilla鈥檚 father, until Elvis is transferred back to the States. With no contact from the singer, Priscilla gets the GI Blues, and keeps up with his life through fan magazines that trumpet his love affairs with everyone from Nancy Sinatra to Ann-Margret. Her mother encourages her to forget about Elvis, to cast her eyes on the boys at school. 鈥淭here must be some handsome ones,鈥 she says.
When he finally calls, inviting her to come visit him in Memphis, Priscilla enters a world of fantasy, fame and manipulation.
鈥淧romise me you鈥檒l stay the way you are now,鈥 he says to her. She nods demurely, but of course, people change, even when they鈥檙e in love.
Based on Priscilla鈥檚 1985 memoir, the movie is told from her perspective. So, unlike Baz Luhrmann鈥檚 recent 鈥淓lvis,鈥 there are no concert scenes, no screaming crowds. Instead, we see the flipside of fame, the family hours, the downtown as Priscilla is kept sequestered away at Graceland, a schoolgirl living with an immature superstar, because, as Elvis tells her, 鈥渢he Colonel thinks it鈥檚 better if the fans don鈥檛 know about you.鈥 It is a world of wealth and luxury but, also one almost completely devoid of true freedom, happiness or contentment.
In Coppola鈥檚 episodic structure, Elvis is portrayed as an insecure, manipulative, toady, easy to anger and emotionally abusive--a man used to calling the shots and getting what he wants. He tells her how to dress, how to behave and demands she be available at all times.
鈥淚t鈥檚 either me or a career,鈥 he says when she muses about taking a job. 鈥淲hen I call you, I need you to be there.鈥
As Elvis鈥 career demands escalate and drug habit worsens, so does Priscilla鈥檚 alienation and growing sense of independence.
In a breakout performance, Spaeny, best known for playing a teenage single mother on the Emmy-winning 鈥淢are of Easttown,鈥 goes internal, creating a portrait of Priscilla that relies on what isn鈥檛 said as much as what is. It鈥檚 the perfect approach to display the loneliness and internal turbulence that characterized her time at Graceland.
The "show, don鈥檛 tell" aesthetic of the film isn鈥檛 limited to Spaeny鈥檚 work. Coppola stages a terrific tableau of Elvis, gun tucked into his belt, taking a photo with a nun, that captures the ridiculous, yet all-encompassing nature of the singer鈥檚 fame. More poignant is the image of the eager-to-please Priscilla, slathering on the heavy makeup and long lashes Elvis preferred just before going to the hospital to have a baby.
鈥淧riscilla鈥 is a gentle look at a turbulent time. It is occasionally a bit too on-the-nose in its music choices鈥攆or instance, "Crimson and Clover鈥檚鈥 鈥淚 don鈥檛 hardly know her/But I think I could love her,鈥 is a bit too obvious a soundtrack for their first kiss鈥攂ut is otherwise a subtle and thoughtful musing on a doomed love affair.
NYAD: 3 ½ STARS
There鈥檚 stubborn, and then there鈥檚 Diana Nyad, the subject of 鈥淣YAD,鈥 a new Netflix movie starring Annette Bening as a marathon swimmer who doesn鈥檛 know the meaning of the word quit. Battling against age, weather and expectations, she refuses to give up on her dream of swimming the 108 miles (174 km) from Cuba to Key West through shark and jellyfish infested waters. 鈥淚 will not accept defeat,鈥 she says.
Based on Nyad鈥檚 true story, the movie begins on the eve of her 60th birthday. Thirty years after trading her swimming career for a gig as a correspondent for 鈥淲ide World of Sports,鈥 she wants another challenge. 鈥淵ou turn 60 and the world decides you鈥檙e a bag of bones,鈥 she says.
Sidestepping the self-described 鈥渉urtling toward mediocrity,鈥 she sets her sights on revisiting her failed 1978 long distance swim between Cuba to Key West. At age 29 she swam for 42 hours, covered 76 miles (122 km), but was forced to abort because of weather.
At the time, experts said the swim was 鈥渃loser to impossible than possible.鈥 Now, with a ragtag team of volunteers, including her best friend/coach/support system Bonnie (Jodie Foster) and navigator John Bartlett (Rhys Ifans), she sets off to conquer the "Mount Everest" of swims, no matter how many tries it takes.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 leave room for imagining defeat,鈥 she declares.
鈥淣YAD鈥 is not exactly a biopic. It focusses on a specific time in Nyad鈥檚 life, filling in background details with hallucinatory flashbacks, so it never goes deep. Instead, it succeeds because it is a portrait of the determination required to become a world class athlete and the team that helps along the way.
It鈥檚 also the story of platonic love as it examines the friendship between Nyad and Bonnie. Bening and Foster, both terrific, provide the movie鈥檚 heart, lending an emotional element that elevates the film鈥檚 prevailing, and occasionally overwrought, inspirational message. The third spoke on the wheel is Ifans as the gruff navigator with a heart of gold. His analytical, logical approach provides a nice counterpart to Bonnie鈥檚 tough love and Diana鈥檚 self-absorption.
The swimming scenes, and there are many of them, are nicely captured by "Top Gun: Maverick" cinematographer Claudio Miranda, whose camera gives the audience a you-are-there look at Diana in action. The vastness of the ocean, the ever-present danger of sharks and venomous box jellyfish coupled with Miranda鈥檚 photography amplify the overwhelming odds Nyad is up against.
鈥淣YAD鈥 spends much of its runtime in the water, following Diana as she makes attempt after attempt to achieve her goal, but it isn鈥檛 the sport that makes the movie interesting. Like any great sports movie, it鈥檚 the people, not the game that is most compelling.
SLY: 3 STARS
鈥淪ly,鈥 a new, reverent Netflix documentary directed by Thom Zimny, is an authorized look at the life of Sylvester Stallone, through the lens of his two best known characters, resilient boxer Rocky Balboa and blunt-force object John Rambo.
The doc begins as Stallone announces he鈥檚 moving house, heading east to New York City from his longtime, opulent west coast home in search of a change of scenery and creative rebirth. As a lifetime of memories and memorabilia鈥攖he L.A. house has a truly shocking number of statues and figurines of Rocky and Rambo鈥攊s packed away, he reminisces about life, his movies and, in one of the film鈥檚 few surprises, his love of polo.
Direct and forthright, he turns on the charm to describe his hardscrabble beginnings in NYC鈥檚 Hell鈥檚 Kitchen with parents Frank and Jackie. He spends a great deal of time on his father, a complicated, abusive man who later in life became jealous of his son鈥檚 success, but, strangely, almost no time on his mother who was a celebrity in the 1980s.
That鈥檚 just one of many omissions. There鈥檚 no mention of his softcore movie 鈥淭he Party at Kitty and Stud鈥檚,鈥 for instance, but 鈥淪ly鈥 is not for completists. As Stallone hopscotches through his filmography, focusing on his three successful franchises, 鈥淩ocky,鈥 鈥淩ambo鈥 and 鈥淭he Expendables,鈥 with little or no mention of the other 75 or so films that fill out his resume, it鈥檚 clear he has a more high-minded philosophical job to do.
The Oscar-nominated actor, writer, director and producer attempts to find common ground between his personal story of tenacity and his best-known characters. It鈥檚 hard to deny the connection between the underdog Rocky and early Sly, or John Rambo鈥檚 survival skill set and Stallone鈥檚 ability to stay relevant in Hollywood. It鈥檚 a bit of a stretch to see how 鈥淭he Expendables鈥 fits the mold, but this is Stallone鈥檚 world and we鈥檙e just visiting.
Better than the tangential links between art and artist is a scene featuring Stallone re-listening to a decades-old interview on a battered old cassette tape.
鈥淩ocky,鈥 he says as a young man, 鈥渋s a character study.鈥
鈥淣o, it鈥檚 not,鈥 his contemporary self says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a love story!鈥
It鈥檚 a nice and rare moment of self-depreciation that compares and contrasts Stallone in different eras; the heady days of early fame and the more self-reflective present day version.
More than anything, the remarkably intimate portrait of the larger-than-life Stallone is a study in star power. As he talks about his life, usually looking directly into the camera, the elusive it-factor that made and kept him a star is self-evident.
鈥淪ly鈥 may not offer up a lot of new material, but does put a personal and entertaining spin on the familiar stories.
