A Look at Fackham Hall – This Fast-Paced, Funny Takeoff on Downton Which Is Pleasantly Lightweight.
Maybe the notion of end times in the air: after years of quiet, the comedic send-up is making a resurgence. This summer observed the re-emergence of this lighthearted genre, which, when done well, mocks the pretensions of excessively solemn genre with a barrage of heightened tropes, visual jokes, and stupid-clever puns.
Playful periods, it seems, beget deliberately shallow, laugh-filled, pleasantly insubstantial entertainment.
The Newest Offering in This Absurd Trend
The latest of these goofy parodies arrives as Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that jabs at the easily mockable airs of wealthy English costume epics. Co-written by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the film has plenty of inspiration to work with and exploits every bit of it.
Opening on a ridiculous beginning to a preposterous conclusion, this enjoyable silver-spoon romp crams all of its runtime with jokes and bits that vary from the childish up to the genuinely funny.
A Pastiche of The Gentry and Staff
In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a pastiche of overly dignified the nobility and overly fawning help. The narrative revolves around the feckless Lord Davenport (played by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their four sons in a series of calamitous events, their hopes are pinned on marrying off their two girls.
The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the dynastic aim of an engagement to the appropriate first cousin, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). But after she pulls out, the pressure shifts to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as an old maid at 23 and and holds dangerously modern beliefs about a woman's own mind.
Where the Comedy Succeeds
The spoof achieves greater effect when joking about the stifling expectations forced upon pre-war ladies – a topic typically treated for earnest storytelling. The archetype of proper, coveted womanhood provides the most fertile punching bags.
The narrative thread, as is fitting for an intentionally ridiculous spoof, is of lesser importance to the bits. The writer serves them up arriving at an amiably humorous rate. There is a homicide, an incompetent investigation, and a forbidden romance featuring the plucky pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
The Constraints of Pure Silliness
The entire affair is in the spirit of playful comedy, though that itself comes with constraints. The heightened absurdity of a spoof might grate quickly, and the comic fuel for this specific type runs out in the space between sketch and a full-length film.
Eventually, one may desire to return to the world of (very slight) reason. Yet, one must respect a wholehearted devotion to the craft. Given that we are to distract ourselves relentlessly, it's preferable to find the humor in it.
