Fackham Hall: Movie Review

Cast: Thomasin MacKenzie, Damian Lewis, Hayley Mills, Katherine Waterstone, Tom Felton
Director: Jim O'Hanlon

When it comes to spoofing the likes of Downton Abbey, in many ways, it’s a very easy target.

The clipped speeches, the upstairs-downstairs shenanigans and the posh socialites of Julian Fellowes’ hit series is rife for parody, even if the films teetered on the unexpected edge of self-parody.

Enter Fackham Hall, a film that plumbs the puerile and fires so many sight gags, you get the sense there’s a feeling of desperation from the writers that at least something will amuse and titillate.

Unfortunately, unless you’re of an easily amused mind or partial to a few Dad jokes here and there, this scattershot approach to its subject leaves you wishing for the sophistication of the likes of Airplane, The Naked Gun or the gut-bustingly funny Top Secret.

Set in the 1930s and on the country estate of the Davenports, a stinkingly rich and frightfully oblivious family, it follows the fallout from daughter Rose (McKenzie, showing she’s got a wicked streak for delivery when it counts) as she pursues an illicit courtship with the latest addition to the downstairs staff – who may himself hold a secret.

Let’s be clear, there are attempts at clever humour in Fackham Hall. All of its players fully immerse themselves into the world co-created by the five writers, including comedian Jimmy Carr, who cameos as a “hilarious” vicar who puts the wrong emphasis on words from his liturgies to varying degrees of success.

It’s unfair to dismiss Fackham Hall as a laugh-free zone, but many of the finest moments feel ripped from the pantheon of better entrants. An extended riff on an Inspector Poirot character’s name reminds you that Abbott and Costello did it better nearly 90 years ago with their “Who’s on First?” routine; various lines feel ripped from the Leslie Nielsen school of stupidity – there’s clearly love for the wordplay (and sight gags) of the genre, including a genuinely funny Siri joke, but it all feels a little too much like it’s trying too hard at certain points.

Much like Downton Abbey itself, Fackham Hall all resolves in a highly neat way – and some will enjoy the gentle journey through parody.

But sadly, it feels that with a bit more control at the writing stage and a little more taut execution, rather than the formulaic fodder that unfurls on the screen, Fackham Hall takes its own title and applies it to its own audience and any complaints they may have.