Fackham Hall – A Rapid-Fire, Witty Downton Abbey Spoof Which Is Refreshingly Lightweight.
Maybe the feeling of end times in the air: following a long period of quiet, the comedic send-up is enjoying a comeback. The past few months saw the re-emergence of this playful category, which, at its best, skewers the pretensions of overly serious genres with a barrage of heightened tropes, physical comedy, and stupid-clever puns.
Playful eras, so it goes, create an appetite for self-awarely frivolous, gag-packed, welcome light amusement.
The Newest Addition in This Absurd Trend
The newest of these goofy parodies is Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that needles the easily mockable airs of gilded English costume epics. Penned in part by UK-Irish comic Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie has plenty of material to mine and uses all of it.
From a ridiculous beginning all the way to its ludicrous finish, this entertaining upper-class adventure packs each of its 97 minutes with gags and sketches ranging from the juvenile up to the genuinely funny.
A Mimicry of Upstairs, Downstairs
Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a caricature of overly dignified rich people and excessively servile help. The narrative centers on the hapless Lord Davenport (portrayed by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their four sons in separate tragic accidents, their aspirations fall upon securing unions for their two girls.
One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the dynastic aim of a promise to marry the right close relative, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). But once she backs out, the onus transfers to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as an old maid of a woman" and and holds radically progressive beliefs regarding women's independence.
The Film's Comedy Works Best
The spoof is significantly more successful when joking about the suffocating expectations placed on early 20th-century females – an area often mined for earnest storytelling. The trope of respectable, enviable femininity supplies the richest comic targets.
The narrative thread, as befitting a purposefully absurd send-up, takes a back seat to the gags. The co-writer keeps them maintaining a pleasantly funny clip. Included is a homicide, a bungled inquiry, and a forbidden romance featuring the roguish street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
A Note on Lighthearted Fun
The entire affair is for harmless amusement, but that very quality comes with constraints. The heightened silliness of a spoof can wear over time, and the mileage on this particular variety diminishes at the intersection of a skit and a full-length film.
Eventually, audiences could long to go back to a realm of (at least a modicum of) reason. Yet, you have to applaud a genuine dedication to the artform. Given that we are to entertain ourselves to death, it's preferable to laugh at it.