Film Review - Downton Abbey (PG)

A royal luncheon, a parade and a dinner? I'm going to have to sit down!

I've only ever watched the Downton Abbey TV series on Christmas Day and with my parents. During those festive specials they'd bring me up to speed with all the goings-on both upstairs and downstairs at the Crawley family estate. 'So the Irish Republican chauffeur is marrying upwards into the family? Okay, well good for him.' 'And this guy's on trial for murder because...? Ah, right, got it. Do we think he's guilty? No? Good.' It gave me enough to work with going in to see the new DA feature film. Not enough to enjoy all the naunces on which the hardcore Baby Boomer fans around me were clearly picking up, but plenty to make it a fun experience nonetheless. And it is fun, even if you're not Downton die-hard. But get real - this movie is definitely made for the faithful.

The year is 1927 and royalty is descending upon the Crawley family pile, with family members and servants bracing themselves for the arrival of King George, Queen Mary and their entourage. Among the guests is Maud Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton), an estranged Crawley cousin, whose financial plans have formidable matriarch Countess Violet at her most combative. And when the advance party arrive in the form of the royal servants (led by David Haig's insufferably pompous Mr Wilson), the Downton staff find themselves in danger of being sidelined in their own duties. Maybe the return of the retired head butler Carson (Jim Carter) can help them fight back.

Those are just the main strands in this continuation of the soapy period saga, because - fair warning - the subplots are innumerable. 2015's Christmas special rounded everything off pretty neatly, so it's a good idea to have the event storyline of imminent royal guests to kick things back into motion. Plus there are a few characters - the tragedy-stricken (and aforementioned Irish Republican) Tom Branson and promoted under-butler Thomas Barrow to name a couple - whose personal stories warrant a bit more spinning out. However, virtually everyone in the extensive ensemble cast gets a bit of proper screen time here, resulting in a fragmented, if still enjoyable narrative.

This is basically a Downton Christmas special for the big screen, with added pageantry and bigger production values. Director Michael Engler, who headed up the final Yuletide episode, makes the most of the grand locations with lots of swooping aerial shots of the Abbey and long tracking shots through its labyrinthine interiors, as vital messages are conveyed and brasses are polished in preparation for the grand arrival. Writer Julian Fellowes keeps things lower key, however, touching base with every single character and providing a wide scattering of dramatic touches rather than anything genuinely explosive. (The one thread that promises a literal explosion is wrapped up surprisingly early on.) 

Performance-wise Dame Maggie Smith is of course a stand-out and granted as many dry one-liners as you'd expect, along with some moments of genuine drama. But Allen Leech and Robert James-Collier both get decent stuff to chew on as the two Toms, as do welcome richly-written newcomers like Staunton and Haig. And even first-time visitors to Downton will be amused by the central downstairs conflict - Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore fuming in the face of the royal servants' gall and plotting their retaliation.

In conventional cinematic terms this big-screen extension is not a great film. It's too structurally rooted in the TV show for that. But it's charming and funny and even touching at points - with all the high-born and lowly characters its audience has come to love and only the mildest critique of the British class structure (along with a message that toffs can be progressive too). If you've never done Downton, you'll most likely find it a diverting couple of hours. If you're a fan, I highly suspect you'll float straight to a heaven populated by all your favourite characters. And none of them will disappoint.

Gut Reaction: Unexpected swell of emotion at the theme music and quite a few laughs-out-loud. Plus something very personal - this was my mum's favourite TV drama after all.

Memorable Moment: Mr Mosely's big moment.

Ed's Verdict: 7/10. It's essentially a massive extra episode of the show, but it rattles along at a decent pace, is full of incident and hits its beats - comic and dramatic - very effectively. Champagne all round.

Film Review - Fisherman's Friends (12A)

Retro's back, again.

The opening moments of Fisherman's Friends tell all you need to know about the experience ahead. A soaring shot of the Cornwall coastline to the a cappella strains of Cornish folk song 'Dan Kanaka' - you know this is going to be a change of pace, a warm and comforting ride. If you're in the mood for something gentle and charming and soothing to your troubled soul, so that moment promises, then this is your film. And to be totally fair, it's a promise well-kept.

Formed in the mid-90s and going on to achieve notable music-industry success, the Fisherman's Friends from Port Isaac, Cornwall provide the real-life core of this film. Around their evolution into recording artists is spun a fictional romantic comedy as cosy as their knitted sweaters. Danny (the ever-magnificent Daniel Mays) is a talent scout and all-round London player on a Cornish stag weekend with some of his music-business mates. On hearing the Friends belt out a sea shanty, he's cajoled into pitching them a record deal. It's all a joke on the part of his boss (Noel Clarke as a mocking industry a-hole), and in truth Danny is more interested in single mum and Fisherman's Daughter Alwyn (a positively glowing Tuppence Middleton) than the singers themselves. But their earthy camaraderie stirs something within his jaded soul and despite resistance from both Alwyn and her father (James Purefoy as the group's unofficial leader), he sticks around to try and persuade the boys regarding potential stardom.

Scripted by the co-writers of later-life rejuvenation tale Finding Your Feet, this is another does-what-it-says-on-the-tin piece of storytelling. You know full well that the salty fishermen (who also do a line in local sea-rescue) will have much to teach the shallow big-city lad. You never doubt that however dubious his motivations, he'll start to fall in love - with the girl, the people and the place. And you can bet that there'll be a few bumps along the road to success and mutual understanding. There's a bursting sackful of corn here, including predictable plot beats, hoary old jokes and sailors bursting into spontaneous song among the lobster pots. If you're a cynic with an antipathy to folk music and a sense that there's little wisdom to be gleaned from hardened Brexiteers (the Friends mistrust anyone north of the River Tamar, so I assume they have no time for the European Union), then this one might not be for you. Don't be too quick to judge though...

With this type of well-worn tale - material guy connects with what really matters - it's all in the execution, and here the execution is strong. The direction and cinematography bring out the best in the Cornish landscape, while Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft's script has considerable pith and wit. However it's the depth of performance that bring this story home, not least Mays' fish-out-of-water (land-mammal-at-sea?) music executive. The Brit star of Line of Duty and Swimming With Men brings much-needed likability to the laddish Danny and utter authenticity to his change of heart. It's a kind of moral turnaround that's dramatically hard to sell, but Mays achieves it with ease. Middleton radiates warmth in response as Alwyn, once she's lowered her prickly defences that is. Loyal to her Cornish roots, she's more culturally attuned than the older generations, and the couple's chemistry is sweetly believable. So is that between Danny and Alwyn's daughter Tamsin, due to an endearing performance from young Meadow Nobrega.

For many, though, it'll be the fishermen themselves who steal it through rich harmonies and banter. Sheer conviction saves them from being a bunch of crusty caricatures, that and the fact they gel so convincingly both on mike and off. Purefoy suggests a profound soul beneath a taciturn exterior, while I, Daniel Blake's Dave Johns and veteran character player David Hayman contribute lovely comic turns. (The latter forms a touching double-act with Maggie Steed, who plays his beloved missus.) And fans of droll Britcom Mum will enjoy Sam Swainsbury as the youngster in the musical pack - a more sensitive, less dim-witted version of his TV role.

The sneering part of me might once have dismissed this as 'perfect for Odeon silver cinema' - truly a slap-worthy comment. For one thing there's nothing wrong with a gentle-natured film accompanied by tea and biscuits on a wet Tuesday morning. (I know, because I slipped in once to catch up on a movie I'd missed). And for another, spirit-massaging feel-good has its place, especially when it's done as attractively as this. The story may be as old as the guys' sea-drenched shanties, but it's delivered with equivalent assurance. As friends go, you could do worse than hang out with this lot for a night. They know how to deliver a good time.

Gut Reaction: A few good laughs, several heartstring tugs and (for personal reasons) one full-on sob.

Memorable Moment: How to rout a posh wedding.

Ed's Verdict: 7/10. Fisherman's Friends does nothing you can't predict, but it does the predictable well with snuggly results. Go on, suck it and see.