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MOVIE REVIEW
“DOWNTON ABBEY”
Rated PG. At AMC Loews Boston Common, Showplace Icon, Regal Fenway Stadium and suburban theaters.
Grade: B+
Fans of “Downton Abbey” are going to love “Downton Abbey.” If that sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy and a circular koan, it is. “Downton Abbey,” the new film version of the Edwardian-era, PBS-aired series, featuring the lavish Yorkshire country estate of the title, like its source, has roots in the classic 1970s PBS series “Upstairs, Downstairs.”
The film cues the TV series’ familiar theme music and brings back all of the major cast, except for those who died or have become stars too big to return (that’s you, Lily James). The dead could have appeared in flashbacks, but whatever.
The action begins with the delivery of a fateful piece of Royal Mail, informing the head of the Downton pecking order, Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), and his American wife, Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern), of a forthcoming overnight visit by King George V (Simon Jones) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James).
The news lights quite a fire beneath the servants, now led by head butler Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier) since the retirement of revered Mr. Carson (Jim Carter). Silver must be polished; “tomfoolery” suppressed.
The King’s retinue almost takes over Downton, alienating the likes of Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt) and her husband Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle), housekeeper Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan), cook Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol), who is to be replaced by the King’s French chef (Philippe Spall), and virtual anarchist and assistant cook Daisy Mason (standout Sophie McShera). Even Mr. Carson is called out of retirement to help.
There is almost as much turmoil “upstairs.” Dowager Countess Violet Crawley (84-year-old Maggie Smith, who has all the most memorable lines) and frenemy Isabel Merton (Penelope Wilton) are at each other’s pearl-and-lace-bedecked throats as usual.
Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), who is torn between keeping Downton going or letting it be swept away by the winds of time, must soldier on without her husband, Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode), who is absent much of modernity. Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael), who spends much of her time being dressed, may be pregnant and is unhappy when the King makes a request of her husband, Bertie Hexham (Harry Hadden-Paton).
Maude Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton), who is related to the Crawleys and one of the Queen’s household, and Violet Crawley have an old hatchet to bury. The Crawley family wonders if widower and former Irish revolutionary Tom Branson (Allen Leech) will try to make trouble with the King. You may recall that his wife, Lady Sybil Crawley (Jessica Brown Findlay), died in childbirth for the high crime of marrying beneath herself.
Ably directed by series helmer Michael Engler and written by series creator Julian Fellowes, co-writer of the darker 2001 Robert Altman film “Gosford Park,” “Downton Abbey” is Anglophile fan service of a very high order.
Dockery unfortunately does not have enough to do. But she looks like an art deco goddess in her several gowns (and, yes, of course there is a ball). Mr. Barrow finds unexpected romance, however forbidden. Mr. Molesley (Kevin Doyle) makes a hilarious royal faux pas.
You’ve heard of the circle of life. Get ready for the waltz of life (it’s more expensive). The screenplay is a bit like having your old high school English class roster read back to you once or twice. The film, like the series, makes you long for a past you never had, and it works in more ways than one.
(“Downton Abbey” contains suggestive language, a gay kiss and an obscene amount of wealth.)
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