Fackham Hall Review – This Brisk, Humorous Downton Abbey Spoof Which Is Pleasantly Throwaway.

It could be the feeling of uncertain days pervading: subsequent to a lengthy span of quiet, the comedic send-up is making a resurgence. This summer witnessed the re-emergence of this playful category, which, at its best, lampoons the self-importance of overly serious dramas with a torrent of exaggerated stereotypes, physical comedy, and stupid-clever puns.

Unserious periods, apparently, create an appetite for knowingly unserious, gag-packed, pleasantly insubstantial entertainment.

A Recent Offering in This Absurd Wave

The newest of these goofy parodies comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that needles the highly satirizable pretensions of opulent UK historical series. The screenplay comes from stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie has plenty of source material to mine and uses all of it.

From a ridiculous beginning and culminating in a preposterous conclusion, this entertaining upper-class adventure fills all of its hour and a half with puns and routines ranging from the juvenile to the genuinely funny.

A Mimicry of The Gentry and Staff

In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a pastiche of overly dignified the nobility and very obsequious servants. The narrative centers on the incompetent Lord Davenport (played by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their children in various unfortunate mishaps, their hopes fall upon marrying off their daughters.

The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has achieved the aristocratic objective of betrothal to the right close relative, Archibald (a wonderfully unctuous Tom Felton). But after she pulls out, the burden shifts to the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a "dried-up husk of a woman" and who harbors unladylike ideas about women's independence.

The Film's Comedy Works Best

The parody achieves greater effect when satirizing the suffocating social constraints placed on early 20th-century ladies – a topic typically treated for self-serious drama. The archetype of proper, coveted womanhood supplies the best material for mockery.

The plot, as befitting an intentionally ridiculous send-up, takes a back seat to the gags. The co-writer serves them up coming at an amiably humorous rate. Included is a killing, an incompetent investigation, and an illicit love affair between the plucky street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

A Note on Lighthearted Fun

The entire affair is for harmless amusement, but that very quality has limitations. The dialed-up absurdity of a spoof may tire quickly, and the entertainment value for this specific type expires somewhere between sketch and feature.

At a certain point, audiences could long to go back to stories with (at least a modicum of) reason. Yet, it's necessary to applaud a genuine dedication to the artform. Given that we are to amuse ourselves relentlessly, let's at least find the humor in it.