Fackham Hall Review – A Rapid-Fire, Humorous Downton Abbey Spoof Which Is Pleasantly Throwaway.
Maybe the notion of uncertain days around us: following a long period of dormancy, the spoof is staging a return. This summer saw the re-emergence of this playful category, which, at its best, mocks the grandiosity of excessively solemn genres with a flood of pitched clichés, visual jokes, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.
Frivolous eras, so it goes, create an appetite for deliberately shallow, gag-packed, pleasantly insubstantial fun.
The Newest Addition in This Goofy Resurgence
The newest of these absurd spoofs arrives as Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that jabs at the easily mockable pretensions of gilded English costume epics. Co-written by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie has a wealth of inspiration to mine and wastes none of it.
Opening on a ridiculous beginning to a ludicrous finish, this entertaining upper-class adventure packs each of its 97 minutes with gags and sketches that vary from the puerile all the way to the genuinely funny.
A Mimicry of Upstairs, Downstairs
Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall offers a spoof of overly dignified rich people and excessively servile servants. The story centers on the feckless Lord Davenport (portrayed by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their four sons in various calamitous events, their plans are pinned on finding matches for their daughters.
The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the dynastic aim of betrothal to the appropriate close relative, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). But when she pulls out, the pressure falls upon the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a "dried-up husk already and and holds unladylike beliefs concerning female autonomy.
The Film's Laughs Succeeds
The film fares much better when sending up the suffocating expectations imposed on early 20th-century women – a topic often mined for po-faced melodrama. The stereotype of idealized ladylike behavior supplies the richest comic targets.
The narrative thread, as one would expect from a purposefully absurd spoof, is of lesser importance to the bits. Carr delivers them arriving at a pleasantly funny pace. There is a murder, an incompetent investigation, and a forbidden romance involving the roguish street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
A Note on Frivolous Amusement
The entire affair is in the spirit of playful comedy, however, this approach has limitations. The amplified foolishness characteristic of the genre might grate over time, and the comic fuel in this instance expires at the intersection of a skit and a full-length film.
Eventually, one may desire to go back to a realm of (at least a modicum of) logic. Yet, it's necessary to respect a sincere commitment to the artform. Given that we are to entertain ourselves unto oblivion, it's preferable to see the funny side.
