A Look at Fackham Hall – This Brisk, Humorous Downton Abbey Spoof Which Is Delightfully Lightweight.

Perhaps the feeling of an ending era pervading: following a long period of dormancy, the spoof is enjoying a resurgence. This summer saw the rebirth of this unserious film style, which, when done well, skewers the grandiosity of overly serious genres with a flood of exaggerated stereotypes, physical comedy, and ridiculously smart wordplay.

Playful times, apparently, beget self-awarely frivolous, joke-dense, pleasantly insubstantial amusement.

The Latest Addition in This Goofy Resurgence

The newest of these goofy parodies comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that pokes fun at the easily mockable pretensions of wealthy English costume epics. Co-written by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie finds ample of source material to mine and exploits every bit of it.

Starting with a ludicrous start to a preposterous conclusion, this entertaining upper-class adventure crams each of its runtime with jokes and bits running the gamut from the puerile up to the genuinely funny.

A Mimicry of The Gentry and Staff

Much like Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a spoof of extremely pompous rich people and very obsequious servants. The plot focuses on the feckless Lord Davenport (portrayed by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their male heirs in a series of tragic accidents, their plans now rest on securing unions for their daughters.

The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the aristocratic objective of a promise to marry the appropriate close relative, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). But once she withdraws, the pressure shifts to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), who is a "dried-up husk of a woman" and who harbors radically progressive ideas concerning a woman's own mind.

Where the Humor Lands Most Effectively

The spoof fares much better when satirizing the suffocating norms placed on pre-war ladies – a subject often mined for earnest storytelling. The trope of proper, coveted femininity provides the richest punching bags.

The storyline, as one would expect from a purposefully absurd spoof, takes a back seat to the gags. The co-writer serves them up coming at an amiably humorous rate. Included is a murder, an incompetent investigation, and a star-crossed attraction involving the charming thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

The Constraints of Pure Silliness

The entire affair is for harmless amusement, but that very quality imposes restrictions. The heightened silliness inherent to parody can wear over time, and the entertainment value for this specific type diminishes at the intersection of a skit and feature.

After a while, you might wish to return to the world of (at least a modicum of) coherence. But, it's necessary to admire a sincere commitment to the artform. If we're going to distract ourselves relentlessly, we might as well laugh at it.