Fackham Hall – This Fast-Paced, Witty Takeoff on Downton That's Pleasantly Throwaway.

Maybe the feeling of uncertain days in the air: following a long period of inactivity, the comedic send-up is staging a comeback. This summer saw the rebirth of this playful category, which, when done well, skewers the pretensions of excessively solemn dramas with a flood of heightened tropes, visual jokes, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.

Frivolous eras, apparently, give rise to knowingly unserious, laugh-filled, refreshingly shallow entertainment.

A Recent Offering in This Goofy Resurgence

The latest of these absurd spoofs comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a parody of Downton Abbey that needles the easily mockable pretensions of gilded British period dramas. Penned in part by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie has a wealth of material to work with and wastes none of it.

From a ridiculous beginning all the way to its outrageous finale, this entertaining aristocratic caper packs all of its runtime with jokes and bits running the gamut from the puerile up to the truly humorous.

A Pastiche of Aristocrats and Servants

In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a caricature of overly dignified the nobility and excessively servile staff. The story revolves around the feckless Lord Davenport (brought to life by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their children in a series of calamitous events, their plans now rest on finding matches for their offspring.

The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the family goal of an engagement to the suitable first cousin, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). However after she backs out, the pressure falls upon the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a "dried-up husk at 23 and who harbors dangerously modern beliefs about a woman's own mind.

The Film's Laughs Works Best

The spoof achieves greater effect when satirizing the stifling norms imposed on Edwardian-era females – a topic typically treated for po-faced melodrama. The stereotype of idealized ladylike behavior provides the best material for mockery.

The narrative thread, as one would expect from an intentionally ridiculous spoof, is secondary to the gags. The co-writer serves them up arriving at a pleasantly funny clip. Included is a homicide, a farcical probe, and an illicit love affair involving the roguish street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

The Constraints of Lighthearted Fun

It's all in lighthearted fun, though that itself has limitations. The heightened absurdity of a spoof might grate after a while, and the entertainment value in this instance expires at the intersection of a skit and a full-length film.

Eventually, audiences could long to go back to a realm of (at least a modicum of) reason. Yet, it's necessary to applaud a genuine dedication to the artform. In an age where we might to amuse ourselves relentlessly, it's preferable to find the humor in it.