Mark Reviews Movies: DOWNTON ABBEY

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Review by Mark Dujsik | September 19, 2019

As popular and beloved as it may have been, "Downton Abbey" eluded me for the entirety of its run. I did attempt to catch up with the show's six seasons before the release of this big-screen follow-up, dear reader. The series' promising and fascinating portrayal of the dichotomy of the respective hierarchies of the "upstairs"—an aristocratic family trying to maintain its fortune and place in the changing world of the early 1900s—and the "downstairs"—the various servants employed by the estate—devolved into melodrama.

It became little more than a fancy soap opera to these eyes, with elongated plots involving romance and money and death that just seemed to stretch on past their usefulness and interest. The attempted game of catch-up ended less than halfway through the series' run (Thanks to a very helpful video recapping the major plot points of the series, I was, however, able to learn who ended up with whom and whatnot by the end of the series).

This review, then, will be seen as heresy by some, for how can someone who disliked and didn't even finish the show be trusted to offer an opinion on its big-screen continuation. May I offer a simple counterpoint? Beyond the fact that a movie should stand on its own, regardless of its origins, I found Downton Abbey to be quite enjoyable.

It's less a continuation of the show's story, which did (at least according to that aforementioned video recap) find a way to bring all of its characters to relatively happy conclusions and resolve all of the dangling plot threads. It's more an additional, nearly standalone tale, featuring characters whose histories happened, for sure, but don't matter too much here.

Indeed, the opening credits take some time to get to the eponymous estate (if only because the cast list is so significant), as a letter moves from Buckingham Palace via train across the countryside and mail truck through the little village outside the manor. The show's theme music, grand in its simple notes pounded on a piano, swells as the camera pushes in on and then back from Downton Abbey, because director Michael Engler knows that a lot of people have been waiting for this return. He's going to milk it for all its worth.

The gist of the plot (which is, for those who may have been irritated by the show's constant complications, thankfully quaint) is that Downton is to be the site of a royal visit in 1927. Yes, the King and Queen, as well as a princess, are coming to the mansion for a luncheon, a parade, and a dinner. This is great news for Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), Earl of Grantham, who confesses to his American wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), Countess of Grantham, that he fears his excitement will make him appear like a commoner.

Also on hand are the aristocrats' daughters, the still-spoiled Mary (Michelle Dockery)—who groans that having tea with a princess is simply too much work—and the more self-sufficient Edith (Laura Carmichael), and their widower son-in-law Tom (Allen Leech), whose Irish republican politics prove mellowed when he finds himself at the center of a regicide attempt. In order to continue the constant battling over inheritances and heirs, Robert's mother Violet (Maggie Smith), Dowager Countess of Grantham, wants her cousin Maud (Imelda Staunton), a lady-in-waiting for the Queen, to leave her estate to Robert. The cousin has other plans, involving her maid Lucy (Tuppence Middleton), who has caught Tom's eye.

None of this, though, really matters, because we know whatever messes may be established at the start will be cleanly resolved by the end. Without the requirement or the ability to spread these plot threads for hours over the course of a season, the film, written by series creator Julian Fellowes, has a lot more time to observe the rituals of customs and manners that go along with a royal visit.

The "upstairs" part is fairly routine, since the characters don't have much more growth to undergo. However, there's a literal revolt happening "downstairs," when the servants discover that their jobs are about to be made unnecessary for a few days.

Mr. Carson (Jim Carter), the former butler at Downton who now spends his days gardening, is called back to the estate to keep everybody and everything running smoothly. This leaves the new butler Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier) a chance to explore his sexuality at an underground club.

The King and Queen's servants, though, arrive with the expectation of running the whole show, which especially vexes housekeeper Elsie (Phyllis Logan), Carson's wife, and cook Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol). The crew devises a scheme to actually do their jobs for royalty. Meanwhile, on another romantic front, undercook Daisy (Sophie McShera) is still trying to decide if she wants to marry footman Andy (Michael Fox).

There's a lot more happening, of course, which undoubtedly will be of some joy to those who followed these and other characters for six seasons. Newcomers probably need not fear too much, since the important character histories are given the proper exposition here.

More importantly, though, Fellowes and Engler have made a follow-up that does exist as its own entity—a smart and funny comedy of manners, featuring characters whose personalities are as clear to those who know them well as they are to those who are just encountering them for the first time. Downton Abbey isn't "Downton Abbey." It's a light-hearted riff on the material that, without the show's complications and contrivances, allows the characters to breathe as their own people.

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