This is likely to be a fairly un-objective review, as I have been a big fan of the television series Downton Abbey pretty much since it began. If this is to truly be these British aristocrats’ last hoorah, then it’s a fitting end to one of my favorite comfort-food franchises. However, as a movie, it’s not quite up to the standard of its two predecessors, but perhaps that’s a bit by design, in an effort to wrap it all up.
It’s worth noting that the previous Downton film, A New Era (by far the best of the three), had just as much, if not more fan service than Grand Finale has. That isn’t really my issue. Where New Era wrapped nearly every character’s arc in gloriously satisfactory fashion, Finale takes the franchise’s last few story strands — quite important ones, mind you — and weaves them so blazingly quickly in its final act that it all starts to feel quite dizzying, especially if you love this series and these characters. You’ll be tearing up one second, and then literally the next second you’ll be whisked away to a garden party or a ball or some social gathering which sets the next scene. This kind of pacing worked better on television because we and the writers knew we were going to get several more hours with our beloved Lords, Ladies, and downstairs wait staff, and so the show was edited with emotional and tonal continuity in mind. The other two films have slight variations of this problem, but it is far more pronounced here because there is just so much to wrap up; so many important decisions for various characters to make.
But perhaps in my love for this franchise, I’ve gotten a bit ahead of myself. For the uninitiated, Grand Finale certainly can offer some fun in a palace-intrigue sense, but I do think all three Downton films benefit from having seen the series in full. This is also particularly true here, as Grand Finale features plenty of in-jokes for longtime fans, especially in reference to the very first season. Now six seasons and three movies in, we find Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) dealing with a divorce, which, considering her position and the time and place she lives in, is much more of a headache than it would normally be for anyone. Her father, Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), and her mother, Cora Crawley, the Countess of Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern), fully support her, despite bad publicity weighing on their every move for a time. The film wisely isn’t bogged down with sadness over the divorce, as Mary’s ex-husband was certainly never an ideal match, as was developed in the latter part of the series and the previous films. Smartly, this film is far more invested in Mary’s future running the Downton estate than it is in even finding her a better match. It really does feel like what the franchise has been leading to all this time; focusing on Mary’s self-actualization as opposed to flippantly marrying her off just for the sake of it.
This self-actualization applies to a great deal of the household staff as well (who were always the best part of the show, apart from Maggie Smith’s now-departed character, the Dowager Countess), as New Era saw many of the un-coupled staff members get coupled or officially hitched. This time around, for example, former scullery maid, now head cook Daisy (Sophie McShera) participates in a huge aspect of planning for a major town event, as does former head butler Mr. Carson (Jim Carter), and so develops the franchise’s final exploration of the classism which rules over its setting. As much as I have loved and will always love this franchise, I have always found its exploration of early-twentieth-century British life and politics a bit sticky. On the one hand, it does do a great deal more than many other upstairs-downstairs stories to properly develop its downstairs characters, but on the other hand, it always defaults to a semi-endorsement of this way of life. Grand Finale does nothing to fully resolve this debate, but regardless, it’s extra nice to know that Mr. Barrow (Robert James-Collier) ended up in the best place he could have possibly ended up (if you know, you know).
I really will miss these characters and treasure my time with each and every one of them. I suppose that’s the magic of a franchise like Downton Abbey. We may disagree with some of its politics, but that’s partly because it’s depicting a way of life that should be well and truly done away with. But just as we’re living through today’s issues, it’s the people we love in our lives that make our lives worth living. It’s these wonderful characters that made Downton Downton. | George Napper
