In the Flesh: Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey is, like the show of which it is a continuation, best as a strictly sensual pleasure. The camera work seldom inspires, but the costuming and set dressing are beautiful and without a hint of artifice. The actors are charming and fascinating to look at. The dialogue, if not revolutionary, is quick and witty in a way that doesn't make me want to tear my hair out. Michelle Dockery is there. It's an entertaining movie, comforting and well-made, with few ambitions beyond giving its audience a nice time. 

Dig deeper than the surface and Downton becomes a much less pleasant piece of art. The script -- penned by series creator Julian Fellowes, a member of the peerage -- pines for the good old days of grand and oppressive class structures and cultic monarchist worship. Still, art doesn't need to be kind or insightful to succeed, and for all that its lack of ambition and relatively subdued emotional tone keep the movie away from any deeper human truth, they also keep it clipping along at an enjoyable pace.

The film does struggle with its outdoor shots, which feel unnaturally flat and antiseptic. Director Michael Engler lights his daytime shots like a historical reenactment, shadowless and stark, a choice which eats away at the film's admirable naturalism. The simplicity of the story permits a leisurely tour of old dynamics and new relationships -- some flat (Mosely's nervous adoration of the king and queen, Daisy's relationship with footman Andy), some crackling (Mary and Henry, Branson and new arrival Lucy Smith) -- without adding much to the television series's meandering and relatively shallow thoughts on progress and tradition.

Much of the film is preoccupied with depicting the lower classes defending the lives of service and subordination they're allowed. Branson, once a staunch Irish Republican, saves the king of England from an assassin. The house staff launch a wacky plot to circumvent the royal servants and serve the king and queen themselves. It's a depiction of the British class system where everyone, even the Communist-leaning Daisy, is a happy participant with few concerns. The film seems to think that a staunch attitude and a firm hand can fix anything, although it does at last manage to squeeze a little emotion from the final conversation between Lady Mary and her grandmother the dowager countess. For a relatively minor effort Downton Abbey puts on a good show.