Fackham Hall Review – This Brisk, Funny Downton Abbey Spoof That's Pleasantly Lightweight.

Perhaps the feeling of uncertain days in the air: following a long period of dormancy, the spoof is making a return. This summer witnessed the revival of this playful category, which, at its best, lampoons the grandiosity of excessively solemn genres with a flood of pitched clichés, physical comedy, and ridiculously smart wordplay.

Playful eras, it seems, beget knowingly unserious, laugh-filled, pleasantly insubstantial entertainment.

The Latest Addition in This Silly Trend

The latest of these goofy parodies is Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that needles the easily mockable self-importance of gilded English costume epics. Co-written by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie has a wealth of inspiration to draw from and wastes none of it.

Starting with a ludicrous start and culminating in a outrageous finale, this enjoyable upper-class adventure crams every one of its hour and a half with puns and routines ranging from the juvenile up to the truly humorous.

A Send-Up of The Gentry and Staff

In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall offers a caricature of extremely pompous rich people and very obsequious staff. The story revolves around the feckless Lord Davenport (brought to life by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their male heirs in a series of calamitous events, their plans are pinned on securing unions for their offspring.

The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the dynastic aim of betrothal to the right first cousin, Archibald (a wonderfully unctuous Tom Felton). But once she pulls out, the burden shifts to the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a spinster at 23 and who harbors unladylike notions regarding female autonomy.

Its Comedy Lands Most Effectively

The spoof is significantly more successful when joking about the suffocating norms placed on pre-war ladies – an area frequently explored for self-serious drama. The stereotype of idealized womanhood offers the best comic targets.

The narrative thread, as one would expect from an intentionally ridiculous parody, takes a back seat to the jokes. The co-writer delivers them maintaining an amiably humorous clip. The film features a homicide, an incompetent investigation, and a star-crossed attraction between the plucky pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

The Constraints of Frivolous Amusement

It's all in lighthearted fun, however, this approach comes with constraints. The heightened absurdity of a spoof may tire quickly, and the entertainment value for this specific type expires somewhere between sketch and a full-length film.

At a certain point, audiences could long to return to the world of (very slight) logic. Nevertheless, one must applaud a wholehearted devotion to this type of comedy. Given that we are to distract ourselves unto oblivion, we might as well see the funny side.