The Holdovers, a film directed by Alexander Payne and written by David Hemingson, has come under scrutiny for alleged similarities to another screenplay titled Frisco. The Holdovers stars Paul Giamatti as a teacher who ends up caring for a teenage boy during Christmas break. The controversy arose when Simon Stephenson, the writer of Frisco, claimed that The Holdovers' script bears striking resemblances to his own unproduced screenplay.
Stephenson provided documents comparing scenes and overall structure of both scripts, pointing out significant parallels. He alleged that key elements such as story, characters, dialogue, and themes were copied from Frisco to create The Holdovers. One specific example highlighted was a scene where the protagonist faces repercussions for wronging a prominent figure, a scenario present in both scripts albeit with different characters.
