Fackham Hall Review – This Rapid-Fire, Witty Downton Abbey Spoof Which Is Refreshingly Throwaway.
It could be the sense of uncertain days around us: after years of inactivity, the spoof is staging a return. The recent season saw the revival of this unserious film style, which, when done well, lampoons the grandiosity of excessively solemn genre with a torrent of exaggerated stereotypes, visual jokes, and ridiculously smart wordplay.
Playful times, so it goes, beget knowingly unserious, gag-packed, welcome light amusement.
The Newest Entry in This Goofy Trend
The most recent of these absurd spoofs arrives as Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that pokes fun at the easily mockable pretensions of wealthy British period dramas. The screenplay comes from UK-Irish comic Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature has plenty of inspiration to mine and exploits every bit of it.
Starting with a absurd opening and culminating in a outrageous finale, this amusing upper-class adventure fills each of its 97 minutes with puns and routines ranging from the puerile up to the authentically hilarious.
A Pastiche of Upstairs, Downstairs
Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a spoof of very self-important aristocrats and overly fawning help. The narrative focuses on the feckless Lord Davenport (played by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their male heirs in a series of tragic accidents, their hopes fall upon finding matches for their daughters.
One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the family goal of an engagement to the suitable kinsman, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). However once she withdraws, the pressure transfers to the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a spinster at 23 and who harbors radically progressive ideas concerning women's independence.
The Film's Laughs Succeeds
The parody fares much better when joking about the oppressive social constraints forced upon Edwardian-era females – a topic frequently explored for earnest storytelling. The stereotype of respectable, enviable ladylike behavior offers the most fertile material for mockery.
The storyline, as befitting a deliberately silly spoof, takes a back seat to the bits. Carr serves them up maintaining an amiably humorous pace. Included is a homicide, a bungled inquiry, and a star-crossed attraction featuring the plucky street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
Limitations and Pure Silliness
Everything is in lighthearted fun, but that very quality imposes restrictions. The heightened foolishness characteristic of the genre might grate over time, and the comic fuel for this specific type diminishes at the intersection of sketch and a full-length film.
After a while, audiences could long to go back to a realm of (at least a modicum of) logic. Yet, you have to admire a sincere commitment to the artform. In an age where we might to entertain ourselves unto oblivion, let's at least find the humor in it.
