Fackham Hall Review – This Fast-Paced, Humorous Downton Abbey Spoof That's Delightfully Throwaway.

Perhaps the sense of uncertain days pervading: subsequent to a lengthy span of quiet, the parody is enjoying a comeback. The recent season saw the revival of this playful category, which, at its best, lampoons the self-importance of overly serious dramas with a torrent of pitched clichés, visual jokes, and ridiculously smart wordplay.

Unserious times, apparently, create an appetite for deliberately shallow, joke-dense, pleasantly insubstantial amusement.

The Newest Entry in This Absurd Trend

The latest of these goofy parodies comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a parody of Downton Abbey that jabs at the very pokeable airs of opulent British period dramas. Co-written by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature has plenty of inspiration to draw from and uses all of it.

Opening on a ridiculous beginning to a preposterous conclusion, this amusing aristocratic caper packs each of its hour and a half with jokes and bits running the gamut from the puerile all the way to the genuinely funny.

A Send-Up of The Gentry and Staff

Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall presents a spoof of very self-important aristocrats and very obsequious help. The story revolves around the feckless Lord Davenport (played by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Having lost their male heirs in various tragic accidents, their plans fall upon marrying off their offspring.

One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the aristocratic objective of betrothal to the suitable first cousin, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). But when she backs out, the burden shifts to the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a spinster of a woman" and and possesses unladylike notions about women's independence.

Its Humor Works Best

The spoof achieves greater effect when joking about the oppressive norms imposed on early 20th-century females – a topic typically treated for self-serious drama. The archetype of proper, coveted femininity provides the richest punching bags.

The plot, as befitting an intentionally ridiculous parody, takes a back seat to the jokes. The writer delivers them coming at a pleasantly funny pace. The film features a homicide, an incompetent investigation, and a forbidden romance featuring the plucky thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

Limitations and Frivolous Amusement

The entire affair is for harmless amusement, but that very quality imposes restrictions. The heightened absurdity of a spoof can wear quickly, and the mileage on this particular variety diminishes at the intersection of sketch and a full-length film.

At a certain point, audiences could long to return to the world of (very slight) reason. Nevertheless, you have to admire a genuine dedication to this type of comedy. If we're going to distract ourselves unto oblivion, let's at least find the humor in it.