Fackham Hall Review – This Rapid-Fire, Humorous Takeoff on Downton Which Is Delightfully Throwaway.
Perhaps the sense of uncertain days in the air: after years of quiet, the parody is making a resurgence. The recent season witnessed the rebirth of this playful category, which, when done well, mocks the grandiosity of overly serious genre with a torrent of exaggerated stereotypes, physical comedy, and stupid-clever puns.
Frivolous periods, so it goes, create an appetite for deliberately shallow, laugh-filled, pleasantly insubstantial entertainment.
The Latest Offering in This Goofy Resurgence
The newest of these absurd spoofs arrives as Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that jabs at the very pokeable self-importance of opulent English costume epics. The screenplay comes from British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the film finds ample of material to draw from and exploits every bit of it.
Opening on a ludicrous start all the way to its ludicrous finish, this amusing aristocratic caper packs each of its hour and a half with jokes and bits ranging from the puerile all the way to the truly humorous.
A Send-Up of The Gentry and Staff
Much like Downton, Fackham Hall presents a caricature of overly dignified the nobility and very obsequious help. The narrative revolves around the feckless Lord Davenport (brought to life by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their four sons in separate tragic accidents, their aspirations now rest on finding matches for their two girls.
The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the dynastic aim of an engagement to the suitable first cousin, Archibald (a wonderfully unctuous Tom Felton). However once she pulls out, the onus transfers to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a spinster already and and holds dangerously modern notions about women's independence.
Its Comedy Works Best
The film is significantly more successful when satirizing the stifling social constraints placed on Edwardian-era women – a topic often mined for self-serious drama. The trope of idealized femininity provides the best material for mockery.
The narrative thread, as one would expect from a purposefully absurd parody, takes a back seat to the gags. The co-writer delivers them maintaining a consistently comedic clip. Included is a murder, a farcical probe, and a star-crossed attraction featuring the charming street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
Limitations and Lighthearted Fun
Everything is in lighthearted fun, however, this approach imposes restrictions. The dialed-up foolishness characteristic of the genre might grate over time, and the comic fuel in this instance diminishes somewhere between sketch and feature.
Eventually, one may desire to return to a realm of (very slight) reason. Nevertheless, one must admire a sincere commitment to the artform. If we're going to entertain ourselves to death, it's preferable to laugh at it.
