Fackham Hall Review – This Fast-Paced, Witty Parody of Downton Abbey That's Delightfully Throwaway.
Maybe the feeling of uncertain days around us: following a long period of quiet, the spoof is making a return. This summer saw the rebirth of this playful category, which, at its best, skewers the self-importance of overly serious genre with a barrage of exaggerated stereotypes, visual jokes, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.
Unserious eras, so it goes, beget knowingly unserious, gag-packed, refreshingly shallow fun.
A Recent Entry in This Absurd Wave
The newest of these goofy parodies comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a parody of Downton Abbey that needles the very pokeable airs of wealthy UK historical series. Penned in part by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie has plenty of source material to mine and uses all of it.
Opening on a absurd opening to a preposterous conclusion, this enjoyable silver-spoon romp crams all of its runtime with puns and routines that vary from the childish all the way to the genuinely funny.
A Pastiche of Aristocrats and Servants
In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall presents a spoof of very self-important rich people and very obsequious servants. The story centers on the hapless Lord Davenport (portrayed by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their children in various tragic accidents, their plans fall upon securing unions for their daughters.
The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has achieved the dynastic aim of an engagement to the suitable kinsman, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). But when she withdraws, the pressure shifts to the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a "dried-up husk already and who harbors radically progressive notions about women's independence.
Its Comedy Works Best
The film achieves greater effect when sending up the suffocating social constraints forced upon early 20th-century females – a topic often mined for earnest storytelling. The archetype of respectable, enviable womanhood offers the most fertile comic targets.
The storyline, as befitting a purposefully absurd spoof, is secondary to the jokes. The writer delivers them maintaining a pleasantly funny clip. The film features a murder, an incompetent investigation, and a star-crossed attraction between the roguish pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
Limitations and Lighthearted Fun
It's all for harmless amusement, but that very quality comes with constraints. The dialed-up absurdity of a spoof might grate over time, and the mileage for this specific type diminishes in the space between sketch and a full-length film.
At a certain point, one may desire to retreat to the world of (at least a modicum of) coherence. Yet, it's necessary to applaud a wholehearted devotion to the craft. Given that we are to distract ourselves relentlessly, we might as well see the funny side.
