Plot

In 1970, a curmudgeonly history teacher at a New England boarding school remains on campus during Christmas break to supervise held over students, and ends up forming an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker.

Nobody likes teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti) -- not his students, not his fellow faculty, not the headmaster, who all find his pomposity and rigidity exasperating. With no family and nowhere to go over Christmas holiday in 1970, Paul remains at school to supervise students unable to journey home. After a few days, only one student holdover remains -- a trouble-making 15-year-old named Angus, a good student whose bad behavior always threatens to get him expelled. Joining Paul and Angus is head cook Mary (Randolph)- who caters to sons of privilege and whose own son was recently lost in Vietnam. These three very different shipwrecked people form an unlikely Christmas family sharing comic misadventures during two very snowy weeks in New England. The real journey is how they help one another understand that they are not beholden to their past-they can choose their own futures.

New England, December 1970. Having caught unwelcome attention after getting up the headmaster's nose, Paul Hunham, the prestigious Barton Academy's sardonic, inflexible Ancient Civilisations teacher, now pays the price. As a result, saddled with supervising five holdovers, students who can't return home for Christmas break, Paul must follow the school's standard schedule and endure two long weeks with the unwanted sons of privilege. After all, it's not that the unloved professor had any plans for the holidays. Now stuck with babysitting duty, the unwavering curmudgeon has one final chance to look life straight in the eye, stay true to himself, and reevaluate the quiet power of unexpected kindness and friendship. But what could a brilliant academic have in common with a bright teenage rebel and a grieving cafeteria manager?—Nick Riganas

It's December 1970 and school is out for the Christmas holiday. Unfortunately, due to personal circumstances some won't be leaving for the holiday: one teacher and five teens will spend Christmas at the school. The curmudgeonly teacher, Paul Hunham, is out to make the experience as school-like as possible.—grantss

In 1970, at the Brandon boarding school, Professor of Ancient History Paul Hunham is loathed by his students, by the other teachers and by the headmaster. He spends his life reading books alone in his apartment at Brandon. During the Christmas holidays, the headmaster Dr. Hardy Woodrup assigns Hunham to stay at Brandon taking care of four students that failed the tests or have no family available in the period. Together with Hunham, stay the manager of the cooks Mary Lamb, who grieves the loss of her son in the Vietnam War, and the troubled student Angus Tully, since his divorced mother recently remarried and wants to spend the period traveling in honeymoon with her new wealthy husband. Near Christmas, the four other students are released and Hunham, Mary and Tully have to stay together, and they learn more about each other's life.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In December 1970, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is a teacher at Barton Academy, a New England all-male boarding school that he once attended on scholarship. His students and fellow teachers despise him for his strict grading and stubborn personality.

Dr. Woodrup (Andrew Garman), Barton's headmaster and Hunham's former student, scolds him for costing the academy money by flunking a major donor's son, causing Princeton University to rescind his offer of admission. As punishment, Hunham is forced to supervise five students left on campus during the Christmas holiday break, including Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), whose mother canceled a family trip to Saint Kitts to instead honeymoon with her new husband.

Hunham accepts the punishment but refuses to let the boys at the academy to skate by until their fathers build a new gymnasium for the school by way of donations. Hunham is adamant that they cannot compromise their integrity at the altar of entitlement of the rich students on campus.

Teddy Kountze (Brady Hepner), Angus's enemy, is one of the five holdovers. He had failed Hunham's class and now his future in Cornell is in serious jeopardy. Hunham has offered a makeup exam after the holidays but says that the exam will cover new material as well, which means all students have to study over Christmas break.

Other holdovers are Jason Smith (Michael Provost) the Barton football team's quarterback, Ye-Joon Park (Jim Kaplan), an international student from Korea and Alex Ollerman (Ian Dolley) a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Kountze and Angus are constantly berating each other about why they were not picked up by their parents for the holidays. Angus alleges that Kountze is not a nice person and is a disaster academically, so no parent would want him back. Officially, they told Kountze that the house is being renovated, but Angus reminds Kountze that no houses are renovated during the winter.

Also staying behind is cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), whose late son, Curtis, attended Barton and recently died in the Vietnam War after being drafted. Unlike most Barton students, Curtis did not get a student deferment because he could not afford to go to college. To the students' chagrin, Hunham forces them to study and exercise on their break. The students are given specific recreation windows during the day. The heat is cut in the dormitory and the faculty housing, so everybody has to bunk in the infirmary.

Mary tells Hunham how she was engaged to Curtis' father, who died before she gave birth. He worked in the shipyard and one day the yard was handling a large heavy cargo when the cables snapped. Kountze takes pleasure in torturing everyone else, as he throws away Alex's gloves, and he has to suffer through the harsh winter without them. Park has an accident in bed and Angus counsels him.

After six days, Jason's wealthy father arrives by helicopter (as he is the CEO of Pratt and Whitney) and agrees to take all five students on the family's ski trip with their parents' permission. Angus, unable to reach his parents for permission, is left alone at Barton with Hunham and Mary.

When Hunham catches Angus trying to book a hotel room, the two argue about Hunham's disciplinarian policies. Angus runs through the school halls and defiantly leaps into a pile of gym equipment, dislocating his shoulder. Hunham takes Angus to the hospital. To protect Hunham from blame, Angus lies to the doctors about the circumstances of his injury. Angus says that he is looking for a little appreciation from Humham for saving his job and career.

At a restaurant, Hunham and Angus encounter Lydia Crane (Carrie Preston), Woodrup's assistant. Hunham flirts with Lydia, who invites the pair to her Christmas Eve party. Angus, Hunham, Mary, and Barton's janitor, Danny, attend Lydia's party. There, Angus and Lydia's niece Elise (Darby Lily Lee-Stack) shares a kiss, while Hunham discovers that Lydia has a boyfriend. As Mary gets drunk and has an emotional breakdown over Curtis's death, Hunham insists on leaving early. As Hunham and Angus argue, Angus says that his father is dead and Mary scolds Hunham for his unsympathetic behavior.

Feeling remorseful, Hunham arranges a small Christmas celebration. Mary persuades Hunham to grant Angus's wish for a "field trip" to Boston. After dropping off Mary in Roxbury to spend time with her pregnant sister, Angus and Hunham walk through Boston, ice skate and visit the Museum of Fine Arts. The two encounter a classmate from Hunham's from Harvard College, who has become a successful academic. Hunham lies about his career, and Angus plays along. Angus learns that Hunham was expelled from Harvard after a legacy donor's son accused him of plagiarism and Hunham semi-deliberately hit him with a car. Although the incident nearly ruined Hunham's career prospects, the old Barton headmaster took pity on him and offered him an adjunct teaching job.

When Hunham and Angus see a movie at the Orpheum Theatre, Angus sneaks away and Hunham catches him entering a taxi. Angus explains that he wants to see his father, and Hunham agrees to accompany him, assuming that they are going to a cemetery. However, Angus's father Thomas (Stephen Thorne) is alive and confined in a psychiatric hospital. Following the visit, Angus (who takes medication for depression) expresses concern that his future behavior will echo his father's. Hunham comforts Angus, affirming that Angus is not the same person as his father. Hunham, Angus, Mary and Danny celebrate New Year's Eve together.

In January, when school resumes, Hunham is summoned to Woodrup's office. Angus's mother Judy (Gillian Vigman) and stepfather Stanley (Tate Donovan) are there. They tell Hunham that Angus is not allowed to see his father and that a snow globe Angus gave to him led to a violent outburst. Angus's mother and stepfather threaten to withdraw Angus from Barton and send him to a military academy. However, Hunham defends Angus and blames himself, lying that he persuaded Angus to visit his father. Woodrup allows Angus to remain at Barton while firing Hunham. Hunham steals expensive cognac from Woodrup's office as he leaves.

Mary, who has come to better terms with Curtis's death, gives Hunham a notebook for the monograph he wants to write. Hunham and Angus share a farewell. In his car, Hunham takes a sip of the cognac, spits it out toward the school, and drives away.