Fackham Hall

by Mike McGranaghan

Fackham Hall is the first modern spoof movie that feels like it could have been made by the Airplane! guys or Mel Brooks. Somewhere along the line, probably around the time of 2000’s Scary Movie, they devolved into mere assemblages of references to other films. Junk like Date Movie, Epic Movie, and Vampires Suck represented the nadir of the subgenre. Seeing one executed properly again is a genuine treat. This is probably the funniest movie I’ve seen this year.

In a smart move, there is one specific target here: Downton Abbey. The story takes place in the titular estate (say the name slowly if you don’t get the entendre) where the wealthy Davenport family lives. Led by Lord and Lady Davenport (Damian Lewis and Katherine Waterston), they are in danger of losing it unless daughter Rose (Thomasin McKenzie) agrees to marry obnoxious first cousin Archibald (Tom Felton). Well, the sign above the entrance to the estate does say “Incestus Ad Infinitem.” The hitch is that she’s in love with Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe), a pickpocket so skilled, he can – and literally does - remove a man’s trousers without him knowing it.

Many of the jokes in Fackham Hall find irony in having lowbrow hijinks puncture the prim-and-proper British aristocratic vibe. A scene where a tender moment between Rose and Eric is threatened by a guy’s flatulence is an uproarious high point. So is a running gag involving a Vicar (Jimmy Carr) who repeatedly misses periods at the end of sentences, causing him to misread the Bible. (“For God is strong and mighty and made us all hard… And made us all. Hard as life may be, he is there.”) A character obviously inspired by Maggie Smith’s Downton Abbey Dowager offers hysterically contemporary commentary during an argument at a formal dinner.

Not everything is pitched at a raunchy level. Director Jim O’Hanlon and his writing team understand how to craft a perfectly executed bit of Airplane!-style silliness. During what’s supposed to be a pigeon hunting expedition, animals of increasingly large size end up being shot out of the sky, including a deer. Here’s another example: everybody mispronounces Eric’s last name, referring to him as “Eric No One.” You have to keep an eye on stuff happening in the background, too, as nuggets of comedy take place behind the main action. The rapid-fire nature of the jokes is right on the money.

That Fackham Hall physically looks like Downton Abbey is a key ingredient to its success. The movie is shot identically, and there are tons of visual cues to call that show and its cinematic spinoffs to mind. Capturing that lush style makes the wackiness even wackier. All the actors have been well cast; they know playing their roles as straight as possible is the key to hilarity. They say and do ridiculous things with great seriousness.

As with any spoof movie, there are some gags that don’t land. That’s to be expected. But a lot of them do, and in its best spots, Fackham Hall gets you laughing so hard you can’t breathe.

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