A Look at Fackham Hall – A Brisk, Witty Takeoff on Downton That's Refreshingly Throwaway.

Maybe the notion of uncertain days in the air: subsequent to a lengthy span of inactivity, the spoof is enjoying a resurgence. The recent season observed the revival of this playful category, which, when done well, skewers the grandiosity of overly serious dramas with a torrent of pitched clichés, sight gags, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.

Frivolous eras, so it goes, create an appetite for knowingly unserious, joke-dense, pleasantly insubstantial amusement.

The Newest Offering in This Silly Resurgence

The most recent of these goofy parodies comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a parody of Downton Abbey that pokes fun at the easily mockable pretensions of opulent English costume epics. Co-written by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature finds ample of source material to mine and uses all of it.

From a absurd opening all the way to its ludicrous finish, this entertaining upper-class adventure packs every one of its 97 minutes with gags and sketches running the gamut from the childish up to the genuinely funny.

A Pastiche of Aristocrats and Servants

Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall presents a pastiche of extremely pompous aristocrats and excessively servile servants. The plot revolves around the hapless Lord Davenport (played by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their male heirs in a series of calamitous events, their aspirations now rest on marrying off their two girls.

One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the family goal of betrothal to the suitable first cousin, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). However when she withdraws, the onus transfers to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), who is an old maid of a woman" and who harbors dangerously modern ideas concerning women's independence.

The Film's Comedy Lands Most Effectively

The spoof is significantly more successful when sending up the suffocating social constraints imposed on early 20th-century women – a topic frequently explored for self-serious drama. The trope of respectable, enviable femininity supplies the richest comic targets.

The plot, as is fitting for a purposefully absurd spoof, is secondary to the bits. The co-writer keeps them maintaining a pleasantly funny rate. The film features a homicide, an incompetent investigation, and an illicit love affair involving the roguish pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

The Constraints of Pure Silliness

Everything is in the spirit of playful comedy, but that very quality imposes restrictions. The dialed-up silliness characteristic of the genre may tire after a while, 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 the world of (very slight) reason. Nevertheless, it's necessary to respect a sincere commitment to this type of comedy. In an age where we might to amuse ourselves to death, we might as well see the funny side.