A Look at Fackham Hall – This Brisk, Humorous Takeoff on Downton Which Is Delightfully Throwaway.
It could be the sense of uncertain days in the air: following a long period of quiet, the comedic send-up is staging a comeback. The past few months witnessed the re-emergence of this lighthearted genre, which, in its finest form, mocks the pretensions of excessively solemn genres with a barrage of heightened tropes, sight gags, and ridiculously smart wordplay.
Playful eras, so it goes, give rise to knowingly unserious, laugh-filled, welcome light entertainment.
The Latest Offering in This Absurd Wave
The newest of these silly send-ups is Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that needles the highly satirizable self-importance of opulent British period dramas. Co-written by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie finds ample of source material to work with and uses all of it.
Starting with a ludicrous start to a outrageous finale, this enjoyable upper-class adventure packs every one of its hour and a half with jokes and bits that vary from the childish to the authentically hilarious.
A Pastiche of Upstairs, Downstairs
In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall presents a caricature of overly dignified the nobility and overly fawning staff. The plot centers on the incompetent Lord Davenport (portrayed by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their male heirs in a series of calamitous events, their hopes now rest on marrying off their offspring.
The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the aristocratic objective of betrothal to the appropriate kinsman, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). Yet when she withdraws, the burden falls upon the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a "dried-up husk already and and holds radically progressive notions regarding women's independence.
Where the Comedy Works Best
The parody is significantly more successful when sending up the oppressive social constraints forced upon early 20th-century females – an area often mined for earnest storytelling. The trope of proper, coveted womanhood provides the richest comic targets.
The plot, as one would expect from a deliberately silly send-up, is of lesser importance to the bits. The co-writer serves them up maintaining a consistently comedic clip. There is a murder, a farcical probe, and a star-crossed attraction between the plucky pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
Limitations and Frivolous Amusement
The entire affair is in lighthearted fun, though that itself imposes restrictions. The heightened absurdity of a spoof can wear quickly, and the mileage on this particular variety diminishes in the space between sketch and feature.
At a certain point, you might wish to go back to a realm of (very slight) reason. Yet, it's necessary to applaud a wholehearted devotion to this type of comedy. If we're going to entertain ourselves unto oblivion, we might as well laugh at it.
