Fackham Hall – A Rapid-Fire, Funny Parody of Downton Abbey Which Is Refreshingly Lightweight.

Perhaps the notion of an ending era pervading: following a long period of dormancy, the spoof is enjoying a return. The past few months observed the revival of this lighthearted genre, which, in its finest form, mocks the grandiosity of pompously earnest dramas with a flood of exaggerated stereotypes, sight gags, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.

Frivolous periods, so it goes, create an appetite for self-awarely frivolous, gag-packed, refreshingly shallow entertainment.

The Newest Offering in This Absurd Resurgence

The newest of these silly send-ups comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that needles the highly satirizable pretensions of wealthy English costume epics. Penned in part by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the film has plenty of source material to mine and uses all of it.

From a ludicrous start to a ludicrous finish, this enjoyable silver-spoon romp crams every one of its hour and a half with gags and sketches ranging from the juvenile to the authentically hilarious.

A Send-Up of Upstairs, Downstairs

Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall offers a spoof of extremely pompous the nobility and excessively servile staff. The story revolves around the feckless Lord Davenport (played by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Having lost their four sons in various tragic accidents, their aspirations fall upon marrying off their two girls.

One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the aristocratic objective of an engagement to the right kinsman, Archibald (a wonderfully unctuous Tom Felton). However once she withdraws, the burden falls upon the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a spinster of a woman" and and holds unladylike ideas concerning a woman's own mind.

The Film's Humor Succeeds

The film achieves greater effect when joking about the suffocating norms forced upon pre-war ladies – a topic often mined for self-serious drama. The archetype of proper, coveted ladylike behavior offers the richest punching bags.

The storyline, as is fitting for an intentionally ridiculous spoof, takes a back seat to the jokes. The co-writer keeps them maintaining a pleasantly funny rate. There is a homicide, an incompetent investigation, and a forbidden romance between the plucky pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

Limitations and Pure Silliness

The entire affair is in lighthearted fun, but that very quality imposes restrictions. The heightened absurdity characteristic of the genre can wear after a while, and the comic fuel on this particular variety diminishes somewhere between a skit and a full-length film.

At a certain point, you might wish to go back to stories with (at least a modicum of) coherence. But, it's necessary to respect a sincere commitment to this type of comedy. If we're going to amuse ourselves unto oblivion, we might as well see the funny side.