Fackham Hall Review – This Rapid-Fire, Witty Parody of Downton Abbey That's Refreshingly Lightweight.
Perhaps the notion of an ending era around us: subsequent to a lengthy span of quiet, the comedic send-up is staging a return. The recent season saw the rebirth of this lighthearted genre, which, in its finest form, lampoons the self-importance of pompously earnest genre with a flood of pitched clichés, visual jokes, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.
Frivolous times, so it goes, create an appetite for knowingly unserious, joke-dense, welcome light fun.
The Newest Addition in This Silly Trend
The latest of these absurd spoofs is Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that needles the easily mockable self-importance of gilded British period dramas. The screenplay comes from UK-Irish comic Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the film has a wealth of material to draw from and exploits every bit of it.
Starting with a ludicrous start and culminating in a ludicrous finish, this amusing upper-class adventure packs every one of its runtime with gags and sketches that vary from the childish up to the authentically hilarious.
A Pastiche of The Gentry and Staff
Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall offers a pastiche of overly dignified the nobility and very obsequious help. The story focuses on the hapless Lord Davenport (portrayed by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Having lost their children in various tragic accidents, their aspirations now rest on securing unions for their daughters.
The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the family goal of betrothal to the appropriate first cousin, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). However when she withdraws, the onus falls upon the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), who is a spinster at 23 and and holds radically progressive beliefs about a woman's own mind.
Where the Humor Works Best
The spoof is significantly more successful when satirizing the suffocating social constraints placed on Edwardian-era females – a subject frequently explored for self-serious drama. The stereotype of respectable, enviable ladylike behavior provides the richest material for mockery.
The plot, as is fitting for an intentionally ridiculous spoof, is secondary to the gags. The writer delivers them maintaining an amiably humorous pace. There is a killing, a farcical probe, and an illicit love affair involving the plucky thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
The Constraints of Lighthearted Fun
The entire affair is in the spirit of playful comedy, though that itself has limitations. The amplified silliness of a spoof may tire over time, and the comic fuel for this specific type diminishes somewhere between a skit and feature.
Eventually, one may desire to go back to stories with (very slight) reason. Yet, you have to admire a genuine dedication to the artform. Given that we are to distract ourselves to death, we might as well find the humor in it.
