Fackham Hall Review – A Rapid-Fire, Funny Parody of Downton Abbey That's Delightfully Ephemeral.
It could be the sense of uncertain days pervading: subsequent to a lengthy span of quiet, the parody is enjoying a comeback. The recent season observed the re-emergence of this unserious film style, which, at its best, lampoons the self-importance of overly serious genre with a barrage of exaggerated stereotypes, sight gags, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.
Frivolous eras, apparently, give rise to deliberately shallow, laugh-filled, welcome light fun.
A Recent Addition in This Goofy Wave
The newest of these silly send-ups arrives as Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that jabs at the highly satirizable pretensions of gilded UK historical series. Penned in part by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the film has plenty of material to draw from and wastes none of it.
Starting with a ridiculous beginning to a ludicrous finish, this enjoyable upper-class adventure packs all of its 97 minutes with gags and sketches that vary from the juvenile up to the truly humorous.
A Mimicry of Upstairs, Downstairs
In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a pastiche of overly dignified rich people and excessively servile help. The narrative revolves around the incompetent Lord Davenport (portrayed by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their four sons in a series of unfortunate mishaps, their aspirations are pinned on securing unions for their two girls.
The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the family goal of betrothal to the right kinsman, Archibald (a wonderfully unctuous Tom Felton). However once she backs out, the onus transfers to the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a spinster at 23 and and holds dangerously modern ideas concerning women's independence.
Its Comedy Lands Most Effectively
The spoof fares much better when satirizing the oppressive social constraints forced upon Edwardian-era ladies – a topic typically treated for po-faced melodrama. The stereotype of idealized womanhood provides the most fertile punching bags.
The storyline, as is fitting for a deliberately silly send-up, is secondary to the gags. The co-writer serves them up maintaining a consistently comedic pace. Included is a killing, an incompetent investigation, and an illicit love affair involving the charming thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
The Constraints of Frivolous Amusement
It's all for harmless amusement, though that itself imposes restrictions. The amplified silliness characteristic of the genre might grate after a while, and the comic fuel for this specific type runs out in the space between a skit and a full-length film.
At a certain point, you might wish to retreat to stories with (very slight) logic. Yet, you have to applaud a sincere commitment to the craft. In an age where we might to distract ourselves to death, let's at least laugh at it.
