Fackham Hall – This Brisk, Humorous Parody of Downton Abbey Which Is Refreshingly Lightweight.

Perhaps the feeling of an ending era around us: subsequent to a lengthy span of inactivity, the spoof is staging a return. This summer saw the revival of this playful category, which, when done well, mocks the grandiosity of excessively solemn genre with a barrage of exaggerated stereotypes, sight gags, and ridiculously smart wordplay.

Playful periods, it seems, give rise to knowingly unserious, gag-packed, refreshingly shallow entertainment.

The Newest Addition in This Goofy Resurgence

The most recent of these absurd spoofs arrives as Fackham Hall, a parody of Downton Abbey that pokes fun at the very pokeable pretensions of wealthy English costume epics. Co-written by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature has a wealth of material to draw from and uses all of it.

Opening on a ridiculous beginning all the way to its outrageous finale, this entertaining silver-spoon romp crams all of its hour and a half with puns and routines running the gamut from the juvenile to the authentically hilarious.

A Mimicry of The Gentry and Staff

In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall offers a spoof of very self-important the nobility and overly fawning staff. The plot centers on the hapless Lord Davenport (portrayed by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Having lost their four sons in a series of unfortunate mishaps, their aspirations are pinned on finding matches for their two girls.

The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the aristocratic objective of betrothal to the appropriate first cousin, Archibald (a wonderfully unctuous Tom Felton). However once she pulls out, the pressure falls upon the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a spinster of a woman" and and possesses radically progressive ideas concerning female autonomy.

The Film's Comedy Works Best

The parody achieves greater effect when joking about the stifling expectations forced upon early 20th-century females – a subject often mined for self-serious drama. The trope of idealized ladylike behavior provides the best punching bags.

The plot, as befitting an intentionally ridiculous parody, is secondary to the bits. Carr delivers them coming at a consistently comedic pace. There is a murder, a farcical probe, and a forbidden romance between the plucky pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

The Constraints of Lighthearted Fun

Everything is in the spirit of playful comedy, but that very quality has limitations. The dialed-up absurdity characteristic of the genre may tire over time, and the entertainment value in this instance runs out in the space between a skit and feature.

After a while, one may desire to retreat to a realm of (at least a modicum of) coherence. Nevertheless, one must respect a wholehearted devotion to the artform. If we're going to distract ourselves unto oblivion, let's at least laugh at it.