‘TODAY WHEN YOU MAKE A HUMAN MOVIE WHERE SOMEBODY DOESN'T FLY, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SHRINK-WRAPPED BUDGET.’
Alexander Payne is back, not a moment too soon. When Total Film meets the writerdirector of About Schmidt, Election and Nebraska, ensconced in a first-floor suite in the Soho Hotel, he's on the London leg of his festival tour for The Holdovers, the eighth film of his career. Now 62, he's only here briefly before jetting off to Lyon and Paris to spread the word on this hugely satisfying comedy-drama. It marks a long overdue reunion with Paul Giamatti, his star from 2004's Sideways, the film that truly put Payne on the map, winning him and co-writer Jim Taylor an Oscar each for Best Adapted Screenplay.
At that point, Payne had already established himself with three features. Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where his parents ran a Greek restaurant, Payne studied Spanish and history at Stanford before entering UCLA Film School. His graduation film The Passion of Martin hit the festival circuit, leading to his debut feature, 1996 abortion satire Citizen Ruth, with Laura Dern. He followed it with Election, starring Reese Witherspoon in one of her most indelible roles – as high-school overachiever Tracy Flick – and About Schmidt, with a towering turn from Jack Nicholson as retiree Warren Schmidt.
Yet it was Sideways, featuring Giamatti as wine snob Miles, that showed Payne as a director so acutely attuned to the human condition, with its heartbreaking tale of midlife malaise. After a gap of seven years, he returned with The Descendants, featuring George Clooney as a father trying to reconnect with his daughters after his injured spouse slips into a coma. Another Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award followed, this time shared with co-writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, putting him in that rare category of the double Oscar-winner.
For all the glittery success (he's been nominated for seven Oscars in total, three times for Best Director, including 2013's black-and-white Bruce Dern-starrer ), Payne has also ridden out storms. His last film, 2017's – a CG-heavy tale featuring a shrunken-down Matt Damon – took just $55 million, lower than its budget, and was met with critical apathy. After that, various projects spluttered and stalled. Which makes his return with all the more pleasing. Based on an original script by David Hemingson, from an idea by
