🔗 Share this article Fackham Hall Review – This Fast-Paced, Funny Takeoff on Downton That's Delightfully Throwaway. Maybe the sense of uncertain days around us: after years of dormancy, the parody is enjoying a comeback. This summer saw the revival of this playful category, which, when done well, lampoons the grandiosity of excessively solemn genres with a torrent of exaggerated stereotypes, sight gags, and ridiculously smart wordplay. Frivolous periods, it seems, give rise to knowingly unserious, laugh-filled, refreshingly shallow amusement. The Newest Offering in This Absurd Wave The latest of these goofy parodies comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that needles the highly satirizable pretensions of wealthy English costume epics. Penned in part by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie finds ample of source material to work with and wastes none of it. Starting with a ludicrous start and culminating in a preposterous conclusion, this enjoyable silver-spoon romp packs every one of its hour and a half with jokes and bits that vary from the puerile all the way to the authentically hilarious. A Mimicry of Aristocrats and Servants In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a spoof of overly dignified aristocrats and very obsequious staff. The plot centers on the hapless Lord Davenport (portrayed by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their children in a series of calamitous events, their plans are pinned on finding matches for their daughters. One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the family goal of a promise to marry the right kinsman, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). Yet once she backs out, the burden falls upon the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a spinster already and and holds unladylike beliefs about women's independence. Where the Humor Works Best The spoof is significantly more successful when joking about the stifling social constraints imposed on pre-war females – a topic typically treated for self-serious drama. The trope of idealized ladylike behavior offers the best comic targets. The narrative thread, as befitting a deliberately silly parody, is of lesser importance to the jokes. Carr keeps them maintaining a pleasantly funny clip. Included is a killing, an incompetent investigation, and an illicit love affair between the roguish pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose. Limitations and Pure Silliness The entire affair is in lighthearted fun, though that itself imposes restrictions. The heightened absurdity inherent to parody may tire over time, and the entertainment value in this instance expires in the space between a skit and feature. At a certain point, audiences could long to retreat to a realm of (at least a modicum of) coherence. Nevertheless, one must applaud a wholehearted devotion to the artform. In an age where we might to entertain ourselves relentlessly, let's at least laugh at it.
Maybe the sense of uncertain days around us: after years of dormancy, the parody is enjoying a comeback. This summer saw the revival of this playful category, which, when done well, lampoons the grandiosity of excessively solemn genres with a torrent of exaggerated stereotypes, sight gags, and ridiculously smart wordplay. Frivolous periods, it seems, give rise to knowingly unserious, laugh-filled, refreshingly shallow amusement. The Newest Offering in This Absurd Wave The latest of these goofy parodies comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that needles the highly satirizable pretensions of wealthy English costume epics. Penned in part by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie finds ample of source material to work with and wastes none of it. Starting with a ludicrous start and culminating in a preposterous conclusion, this enjoyable silver-spoon romp packs every one of its hour and a half with jokes and bits that vary from the puerile all the way to the authentically hilarious. A Mimicry of Aristocrats and Servants In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a spoof of overly dignified aristocrats and very obsequious staff. The plot centers on the hapless Lord Davenport (portrayed by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their children in a series of calamitous events, their plans are pinned on finding matches for their daughters. One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the family goal of a promise to marry the right kinsman, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). Yet once she backs out, the burden falls upon the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a spinster already and and holds unladylike beliefs about women's independence. Where the Humor Works Best The spoof is significantly more successful when joking about the stifling social constraints imposed on pre-war females – a topic typically treated for self-serious drama. The trope of idealized ladylike behavior offers the best comic targets. The narrative thread, as befitting a deliberately silly parody, is of lesser importance to the jokes. Carr keeps them maintaining a pleasantly funny clip. Included is a killing, an incompetent investigation, and an illicit love affair between the roguish pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose. Limitations and Pure Silliness The entire affair is in lighthearted fun, though that itself imposes restrictions. The heightened absurdity inherent to parody may tire over time, and the entertainment value in this instance expires in the space between a skit and feature. At a certain point, audiences could long to retreat to a realm of (at least a modicum of) coherence. Nevertheless, one must applaud a wholehearted devotion to the artform. In an age where we might to entertain ourselves relentlessly, let's at least laugh at it.