Fackham Hall – A Rapid-Fire, Witty Downton Abbey Spoof That's Delightfully Throwaway.
It could be the sense of end times pervading: following a long period of inactivity, the parody is making a comeback. The past few months saw the revival of this playful category, which, at its best, skewers the pretensions of pompously earnest genre with a barrage of pitched clichés, visual jokes, and stupid-clever puns.
Frivolous eras, it seems, give rise to knowingly unserious, joke-dense, refreshingly shallow fun.
The Latest Addition in This Goofy Resurgence
The most recent of these absurd spoofs comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that jabs at the highly satirizable self-importance of gilded English costume epics. Penned in part by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the film has plenty of material to draw from and wastes none of it.
From a absurd opening and culminating in a outrageous finale, this entertaining upper-class adventure fills every one of its hour and a half with puns and routines running the gamut from the puerile to the authentically hilarious.
A Mimicry of Upstairs, Downstairs
Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall presents a caricature of overly dignified aristocrats and overly fawning help. The story centers on the feckless Lord Davenport (brought to life by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Having lost their four sons in separate unfortunate mishaps, their plans are pinned on finding matches for their two girls.
The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the dynastic aim of a promise to marry the suitable first cousin, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). Yet after she withdraws, the burden transfers to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a spinster of a woman" and who harbors dangerously modern ideas regarding women's independence.
Where the Humor Lands Most Effectively
The film is significantly more successful when joking about the stifling expectations forced upon Edwardian-era ladies – an area frequently explored for earnest storytelling. The stereotype of idealized femininity supplies the richest material for mockery.
The plot, as is fitting for a deliberately silly parody, is secondary to the bits. Carr delivers them coming at a pleasantly funny clip. Included is a homicide, a bungled inquiry, and an illicit love affair involving the roguish street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
A Note on Frivolous Amusement
It's all for harmless amusement, however, this approach imposes restrictions. The dialed-up foolishness of a spoof may tire after a while, and the entertainment value on this particular variety expires in the space between a skit and a full-length film.
Eventually, audiences could long to return to the world of (very slight) logic. But, you have to admire a sincere commitment to the artform. If we're going to distract ourselves relentlessly, it's preferable to see the funny side.