Fackham Hall – A Rapid-Fire, Funny Takeoff on Downton Which Is Refreshingly Throwaway.
Maybe the notion of uncertain days around us: subsequent to a lengthy span of dormancy, the comedic send-up is enjoying a comeback. This summer witnessed the re-emergence of this playful category, which, in its finest form, skewers the pretensions of overly serious dramas with a torrent of exaggerated stereotypes, sight gags, and ridiculously smart wordplay.
Playful eras, apparently, create an appetite for self-awarely frivolous, laugh-filled, refreshingly shallow entertainment.
A Recent Offering in This Goofy Wave
The newest of these goofy parodies comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that pokes fun at the very pokeable pretensions of wealthy English costume epics. Co-written by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature has plenty of source material to mine and uses all of it.
From a ridiculous beginning to a ludicrous finish, this entertaining silver-spoon romp packs every one of its 97 minutes with puns and routines running the gamut from the juvenile up to the authentically hilarious.
A Send-Up of Aristocrats and Servants
Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall offers a pastiche of extremely pompous aristocrats and excessively servile help. The story centers on the incompetent Lord Davenport (brought to life by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their male heirs in various unfortunate mishaps, their plans fall upon marrying off their two girls.
One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the dynastic aim of an engagement to the suitable kinsman, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). Yet when she pulls out, the burden shifts to the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), who is a "dried-up husk at 23 and and holds radically progressive ideas regarding a woman's own mind.
Its Comedy Lands Most Effectively
The parody is significantly more successful when satirizing the oppressive expectations imposed on Edwardian-era women – an area frequently explored for earnest storytelling. The trope of respectable, enviable femininity provides the most fertile comic targets.
The storyline, as befitting a purposefully absurd parody, is of lesser importance to the gags. Carr serves them up arriving at an amiably humorous rate. Included is a killing, a farcical probe, and an illicit love affair featuring the charming thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
Limitations and Lighthearted Fun
The entire affair is in the spirit of playful comedy, but that very quality comes with constraints. The heightened foolishness characteristic of the genre may tire after a while, and the entertainment value in this instance runs out in the space between sketch and feature.
After a while, you might wish to retreat to stories with (at least a modicum of) logic. But, you have to applaud a wholehearted devotion to this type of comedy. Given that we are to entertain ourselves relentlessly, it's preferable to find the humor in it.