Fackham Hall Review – A Brisk, Witty Downton Abbey Spoof Which Is Delightfully Lightweight.

Maybe the sense of an ending era in the air: following a long period of inactivity, the parody is enjoying a comeback. The past few months saw the revival of this unserious film style, which, when done well, mocks the grandiosity of excessively solemn genre with a flood of exaggerated stereotypes, physical comedy, and ridiculously smart wordplay.

Frivolous times, so it goes, give rise to knowingly unserious, joke-dense, pleasantly insubstantial entertainment.

The Newest Entry in This Absurd Resurgence

The latest of these goofy parodies arrives as Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that pokes fun at the very pokeable airs of opulent English costume epics. Co-written by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie has a wealth of material to draw from and wastes none of it.

From a ludicrous start all the way to its outrageous finale, this enjoyable upper-class adventure packs each of its runtime with puns and routines that vary from the puerile to the truly humorous.

A Send-Up of Upstairs, Downstairs

Much like Downton, Fackham Hall offers a caricature of very self-important rich people and very obsequious servants. The narrative centers on the incompetent Lord Davenport (portrayed by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their children in a series of tragic accidents, their aspirations fall upon marrying off their offspring.

The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the dynastic aim of an engagement to the appropriate kinsman, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). But after she backs out, the onus transfers to the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a spinster at 23 and and possesses dangerously modern notions regarding women's independence.

The Film's Humor Succeeds

The film is significantly more successful when satirizing the suffocating norms imposed on pre-war ladies – a subject often mined for po-faced melodrama. The trope of idealized ladylike behavior offers the richest comic targets.

The storyline, as one would expect from a deliberately silly parody, is of lesser importance to the jokes. Carr delivers them coming at an amiably humorous pace. Included is a murder, an incompetent investigation, and a forbidden romance featuring the roguish pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

A Note on Pure Silliness

Everything is in the spirit of playful comedy, however, this approach imposes restrictions. The heightened foolishness characteristic of the genre may tire after a while, and the mileage on this particular variety runs out at the intersection of a skit and a full-length film.

Eventually, audiences could long to retreat to stories with (at least a modicum of) reason. But, it's necessary to respect a sincere commitment to this type of comedy. If we're going to entertain ourselves unto oblivion, we might as well see the funny side.