I can’t remember the last good comedy I saw, well, not a modern comedy. However, I saw Fackham Hall, and it’s funny. I was surprised, in fact, shocked. You might have seen the trailer recently, and I was up for a good laugh.
Fackham Hall stars Thomasin McKenzie, Ben Radcliffe, Damian Lewis, Hayley Mills, Katherine Waterston, Tom Felton, Emma Laird, Adam Woodward, Lily Knight, and Jason Done. Jim O’Hanlon directs, with Steve and Andrew Dawson, Tim Inman, and Jimmy and Patrick Carr writing. The original idea was by the Carr’s.
I like Jimmy Carr, he’s funny, has a sharp wit, and is a very clever and insightful man. I’ve seen him in interviews, and he’s different from the comedian Carr.
The Story
Fackham Hall is pretty much every episode of Downton Abbey:
A new porter forms an odd bond with the youngest daughter of a well-known UK family. As the Davenport family, headed by Lord and Lady Davenport, deals with the epic disaster of the wedding of their eldest daughter to her caddish cousin.
In a nutshell, the Davenport’s are going to lose Fackham Hall. The only way to save it is to have the daughters marry. However, the girls want to marry for love, not for money. This isn’t done in a ‘she don’t need no man’ type of way, more like a Pride and Prejudice way.
In the meantime, Eric (Radcliffe) is sent to Fackham Hall with a letter for Lord Davenport, but gets mistaken for one of the servants. He begins a love affair with Rose (McKenzie), and hilarity ensues.
Back to Basics
I said in my review of Sisu: Road to Revenge the other day, that it was back to basics. Fackham Hall is the same; it’s a basic, simple comedy that’s just funny. Some of the jokes are incredibly childish, but then, that’s my sense of humour. I honestly found myself laughing out loud a lot.
The best way to describe the movie is thing Downton Abbey with the Airplane sense of humour. Personally, I can’t stand Downton Abbey, but I love Airplane. Fackham Hall has all the boring stuff of Downton, but made fun of and turned into funny jokes.
It’s one of those movies where there it something funny on screen with every shot. To main jokes the characters are making, to silly little stuff going on in the background. I will need to see this again, maybe a few times to get all the jokes.
Some of the jokes are completely predictable, but you don’t mind, because they are still funny. Even down to the childish fart jokes. That’s not to say some of the jokes are clever, and there is a good mix here.
Overall
A short and sweet review of Fackham Hall, but basically, it’s a very funny movie, and it took me back to the days of Airplane and the original Naked Gun. Silly jokes, well told, with a good cast that all suit the situation, unlike Liam Neeson in the new Naked Gun.
I will be watching Fackham Hall again at some point, it’s a good one for mates and beers, or even your other half. I didn’t see it with the misses, but I will with her, even though I know she’ll roll her eyes when I’m giggling at the fart jokes.
The story is pretty solid, as it keeps you invested, but doesn’t get in the way of the comedy. Honestly, if you fancy a good laugh, check out Fackham Hall and have fun with it, I know I did. It’s getting 4.5 from me. It was a nice way to end 2025, on a laugh.
Fackham Hall is in the cinemas and is a great movie with a packed audience.
