Fackham Hall Review – This Rapid-Fire, Funny Parody of Downton Abbey That's Pleasantly Throwaway.

Perhaps the feeling of an ending era pervading: following a long period of quiet, the parody is staging a return. The recent season observed the rebirth of this lighthearted genre, which, in its finest form, skewers the pretensions of pompously earnest genre with a torrent of heightened tropes, sight gags, and stupid-clever puns.

Unserious times, apparently, beget knowingly unserious, laugh-filled, refreshingly shallow amusement.

The Latest Offering in This Goofy Resurgence

The newest of these absurd spoofs is Fackham Hall, a parody of Downton Abbey that jabs at the easily mockable airs of gilded British period dramas. Penned in part by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature has a wealth of inspiration to work with and exploits every bit of it.

Opening on a absurd opening and culminating in a preposterous conclusion, this entertaining silver-spoon romp fills every one of its 97 minutes with jokes and bits running the gamut from the juvenile up to the authentically hilarious.

A Pastiche of The Gentry and Staff

Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall offers a caricature of extremely pompous aristocrats and overly fawning servants. The plot centers on the feckless Lord Davenport (played by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Having lost their four sons in various calamitous events, their plans now rest on finding matches for their daughters.

The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the aristocratic objective of an engagement to the suitable kinsman, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). However when she withdraws, the onus transfers to the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), who is a spinster already and who harbors radically progressive notions regarding women's independence.

The Film's Comedy Succeeds

The spoof achieves greater effect when joking about the oppressive social constraints forced upon pre-war females – a subject typically treated for self-serious drama. The trope of idealized ladylike behavior supplies the most fertile comic targets.

The narrative thread, as befitting an intentionally ridiculous spoof, is secondary to the bits. The writer serves them up arriving at a consistently comedic clip. There is a homicide, a farcical probe, and a forbidden romance featuring the roguish thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

The Constraints of Frivolous Amusement

Everything is for harmless amusement, but that very quality comes with constraints. The heightened absurdity inherent to parody may tire quickly, and the mileage in this instance diminishes somewhere between sketch and a full-length film.

After a while, one may desire to go back to the world of (at least a modicum of) reason. Yet, one must respect a sincere commitment to the artform. If we're going to distract ourselves unto oblivion, we might as well laugh at it.