Fackham Hall – A Brisk, Funny Downton Abbey Spoof Which Is Delightfully Lightweight.
It could be the sense of end times around us: following a long period of dormancy, the parody is making a comeback. The past few months observed the revival of this playful category, which, at its best, skewers the pretensions of pompously earnest genres with a torrent of exaggerated stereotypes, physical comedy, and ridiculously smart wordplay.
Playful times, so it goes, create an appetite for self-awarely frivolous, joke-dense, welcome light amusement.
The Latest Offering in This Goofy Trend
The newest of these silly send-ups is Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that pokes fun at the highly satirizable self-importance of gilded British period dramas. Co-written by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the film has a wealth of source material to work with and uses all of it.
Opening on a ridiculous beginning to a ludicrous finish, this amusing silver-spoon romp packs all of its 97 minutes with jokes and bits running the gamut from the childish to the genuinely funny.
A Pastiche of The Gentry and Staff
Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall offers a pastiche of overly dignified the nobility and very obsequious staff. The story focuses on the incompetent Lord Davenport (brought to life by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their male heirs in various tragic accidents, their hopes fall upon finding matches for their daughters.
One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the dynastic aim of a promise to marry the right kinsman, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). Yet when she pulls out, the burden transfers to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a "dried-up husk already and and possesses dangerously modern ideas regarding women's independence.
Its Laughs Works Best
The parody is significantly more successful when sending up the suffocating social constraints placed on pre-war ladies – a topic typically treated for self-serious drama. The archetype of respectable, enviable womanhood provides the most fertile comic targets.
The narrative thread, as is fitting for a purposefully absurd spoof, is of lesser importance to the bits. Carr delivers them coming at a consistently comedic rate. There is a murder, an incompetent investigation, and an illicit love affair featuring the charming thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
Limitations and Frivolous Amusement
It's all in the spirit of playful comedy, however, this approach has limitations. The dialed-up foolishness characteristic of the genre can wear quickly, and the mileage for this specific type expires at the intersection of sketch and a full-length film.
Eventually, you might wish to go back to the world of (very slight) coherence. Yet, you have to admire a genuine dedication to this type of comedy. In an age where we might to amuse ourselves to death, let's at least laugh at it.
