Sneakily becoming, perhaps, the year's best film as it crunches through its running time, Alexander Payne's "The Holdovers" is a triumph of barbed-yet-sensitive writing, vision-rich direction, and stand-out performances. It is a soulful winter's treat that deftly balances seasonal chill with colored-light warmth.
Starring a mind-bogglingly great Paul Giamatti, Payne's cantankerous comedy finds a prep school teacher lording over a group of boys and employees left stranded at the institution over the holidays. As the group dwindles, Giamatti's Paul Hunham,…