Fackham Hall Review – A Fast-Paced, Funny Parody of Downton Abbey Which Is Delightfully Lightweight.
It could be the feeling of end times around us: subsequent to a lengthy span of dormancy, the parody is staging a comeback. This summer witnessed the rebirth of this unserious film style, which, when done well, lampoons the pretensions of overly serious genres with a barrage of heightened tropes, visual jokes, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.
Unserious periods, apparently, create an appetite for deliberately shallow, laugh-filled, pleasantly insubstantial entertainment.
The Latest Addition in This Goofy Trend
The most recent of these goofy parodies is Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that needles the very pokeable self-importance of wealthy UK historical series. Co-written by UK-Irish comic Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie finds ample of source material to mine and wastes none of it.
Opening on a absurd opening all the way to its preposterous conclusion, this amusing silver-spoon romp fills all of its 97 minutes with jokes and bits that vary from the childish all the way to the genuinely funny.
A Pastiche of Aristocrats and Servants
In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall presents a caricature of very self-important aristocrats and very obsequious help. The plot 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 children in various calamitous events, their plans are pinned on securing unions for their two girls.
The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the family goal of a promise to marry the suitable kinsman, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). However after she backs out, the burden shifts to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a "dried-up husk at 23 and and holds dangerously modern ideas regarding a woman's own mind.
Its Comedy Lands Most Effectively
The spoof achieves greater effect when joking about the stifling norms imposed on Edwardian-era females – a topic often mined for earnest storytelling. The trope of idealized ladylike behavior provides the best material for mockery.
The narrative thread, as is fitting for a purposefully absurd spoof, is of lesser importance to the gags. Carr serves them up arriving at an amiably humorous rate. The film features a killing, a farcical probe, and an illicit love affair between the charming pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
The Constraints of Frivolous Amusement
The entire affair is in lighthearted fun, though that itself comes with constraints. The amplified foolishness of a spoof might grate quickly, and the entertainment value for this specific type diminishes at the intersection of a skit and a full-length film.
At a certain point, one may desire to retreat to a realm of (very slight) logic. Nevertheless, it's necessary to respect a genuine dedication to the craft. In an age where we might to distract ourselves to death, it's preferable to find the humor in it.
