Fackham Hall Review – This Brisk, Funny Parody of Downton Abbey That's Pleasantly Throwaway.
Maybe the notion of end times in the air: following a long period of inactivity, the spoof is staging a comeback. The recent season observed the re-emergence of this lighthearted genre, which, at its best, mocks the pretensions of overly serious genres with a flood of pitched clichés, physical comedy, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.
Playful periods, it seems, give rise to self-awarely frivolous, laugh-filled, pleasantly insubstantial entertainment.
A Recent Offering in This Goofy Trend
The most recent of these absurd spoofs comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that needles the easily mockable self-importance of gilded English costume epics. Co-written by UK-Irish comic Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie has a wealth of material to draw from and uses all of it.
From a ridiculous beginning and culminating in a ludicrous finish, this amusing upper-class adventure fills all of its runtime with gags and sketches running the gamut from the childish to the truly humorous.
A Send-Up of Upstairs, Downstairs
In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall offers a caricature of very self-important the nobility and overly fawning help. The story centers on the incompetent Lord Davenport (played by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Having lost their male heirs in separate unfortunate mishaps, their hopes are pinned on marrying off their daughters.
The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the dynastic aim of betrothal to the suitable first cousin, Archibald (a wonderfully unctuous Tom Felton). But when she pulls out, the onus falls upon the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), who is an old maid of a woman" and and possesses unladylike beliefs regarding female autonomy.
Where the Laughs Lands Most Effectively
The parody achieves greater effect when joking about the stifling norms forced upon early 20th-century women – a topic often mined for earnest storytelling. The stereotype of respectable, enviable ladylike behavior provides the richest material for mockery.
The narrative thread, as is fitting for an intentionally ridiculous spoof, is secondary to the gags. The co-writer keeps them arriving at an amiably humorous rate. There is a killing, a bungled inquiry, and a star-crossed attraction involving the roguish pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
Limitations and Pure Silliness
Everything is in lighthearted fun, however, this approach comes with constraints. The heightened silliness of a spoof might grate quickly, and the mileage for this specific type expires at the intersection of a skit and a full-length film.
Eventually, audiences could long to retreat to the world of (at least a modicum of) logic. Yet, one must respect a wholehearted devotion to the artform. In an age where we might to amuse ourselves to death, it's preferable to find the humor in it.
