Nobody likes Professor Paul Hunham (Giamatti), not his students, not his classmates, not even the principal of the high school where he works, they all find his pomposity and rigidity infuriating. With no family and nowhere to go during the 1970 Christmas holidays, Paul stays at the school to supervise students who have not been able to travel home. After a few days, only one student remains there: a troublesome 15-year-old boy named Angus, a good student whose bad behavior always threatens to get him expelled. Joining Paul and Angus is cook Mary (Randolph), an African-American woman who cares for privileged children and whose own son recently lost his life in Vietnam. These three very different castaways will form an unlikely family during two very snowy weeks in New England.