Fackham Hall Review – This Brisk, Witty Takeoff on Downton Which Is Refreshingly Throwaway.
Perhaps the sense of an ending era around us: following a long period of inactivity, the spoof is making a comeback. The past few months saw the rebirth of this playful category, which, at its best, skewers the self-importance of pompously earnest genres with a torrent of exaggerated stereotypes, visual jokes, and ridiculously smart wordplay.
Playful periods, apparently, create an appetite for knowingly unserious, gag-packed, pleasantly insubstantial amusement.
The Latest Addition in This Silly Trend
The latest of these silly send-ups is Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that jabs at the highly satirizable pretensions of gilded UK historical series. The screenplay comes from British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie has plenty of source material to draw from and uses all of it.
From a absurd opening and culminating in a preposterous conclusion, this enjoyable silver-spoon romp fills every one of its hour and a half with gags and sketches running the gamut from the childish to the truly humorous.
A Send-Up of The Gentry and Staff
In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a spoof of extremely pompous aristocrats and excessively servile staff. The plot centers on the incompetent Lord Davenport (brought to life by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their male heirs in separate tragic accidents, their plans now rest on securing unions for their two girls.
One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the aristocratic objective of betrothal to the right kinsman, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). Yet after she withdraws, the pressure falls upon the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a spinster at 23 and and possesses radically progressive beliefs regarding women's independence.
The Film's Comedy Succeeds
The parody achieves greater effect when satirizing the suffocating expectations placed on pre-war females – a subject typically treated for earnest storytelling. The stereotype of proper, coveted ladylike behavior offers the richest comic targets.
The storyline, as is fitting for a deliberately silly spoof, is of lesser importance to the bits. Carr delivers them maintaining a consistently comedic rate. There is a murder, a farcical probe, and a forbidden romance featuring the roguish thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
The Constraints of Lighthearted Fun
It's all in the spirit of playful comedy, however, this approach comes with constraints. The dialed-up foolishness of a spoof might grate quickly, and the mileage in this instance diminishes in the space between a skit and feature.
Eventually, you might wish to return to a realm of (very slight) reason. Yet, it's necessary to applaud a wholehearted devotion to this type of comedy. Given that we are to entertain ourselves unto oblivion, it's preferable to find the humor in it.
