A Look at Fackham Hall – A Fast-Paced, Funny Downton Abbey Spoof That's Refreshingly Ephemeral.

It could be the sense of an ending era pervading: after years of inactivity, the parody is making a return. The recent season witnessed the re-emergence of this playful category, which, in its finest form, lampoons the grandiosity of pompously earnest genre with a barrage of exaggerated stereotypes, physical comedy, and stupid-clever puns.

Frivolous times, apparently, beget self-awarely frivolous, joke-dense, refreshingly shallow amusement.

The Newest Entry in This Silly Trend

The newest of these silly send-ups comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that jabs at the very pokeable airs of gilded British period dramas. Co-written by UK-Irish comic Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the film has plenty of inspiration to work with and exploits every bit of it.

Starting with a ridiculous beginning and culminating in a outrageous finale, this amusing silver-spoon romp fills each of its runtime with gags and sketches running the gamut from the puerile to the genuinely funny.

A Pastiche of Aristocrats and Servants

In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall offers a caricature of very self-important the nobility and overly fawning help. The plot revolves around the incompetent Lord Davenport (portrayed by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their four sons in a series of unfortunate mishaps, their plans are pinned on marrying off their two girls.

One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the family goal of betrothal to the appropriate kinsman, Archibald (a wonderfully unctuous Tom Felton). However once she backs out, the onus transfers to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a spinster already and and holds unladylike ideas regarding women's independence.

The Film's Laughs Works Best

The film achieves greater effect when joking about the stifling norms imposed on early 20th-century females – an area frequently explored for po-faced melodrama. The stereotype of idealized womanhood supplies the most fertile punching bags.

The plot, as befitting a purposefully absurd parody, is secondary to the gags. The co-writer keeps them coming at an amiably humorous pace. There is a homicide, a farcical probe, and a forbidden romance between the roguish thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

The Constraints of Pure Silliness

Everything is for harmless amusement, however, this approach has limitations. The dialed-up silliness characteristic of the genre can wear over time, and the comic fuel on this particular variety diminishes at the intersection of a skit and a full-length film.

At a certain point, you might wish to retreat to stories with (at least a modicum of) reason. Yet, you have to respect a genuine dedication to the artform. In an age where we might to distract ourselves unto oblivion, we might as well see the funny side.