Downton Abbey

Focus Features | Release Date: September 20, 2019

6.8	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 91 Ratings

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xDWxSep 22, 2019

If you're a big Downton Abbey fan looking for Downton Abbey fan service, you'll probably like this movie. (I've watched every episode of the TV series, and thought it was so-so.) The biggest problem I had with the movie is that they try andIf you're a big Downton Abbey fan looking for Downton Abbey fan service, you'll probably like this movie. (I've watched every episode of the TV series, and thought it was so-so.) The biggest problem I had with the movie is that they try and cram waaayyyy too many subplots into it to the point of confusion, a decision which turns the movie into a series of random events, some of which are kind of pointless. The second is that they flattened out all the characters. The tension between characters that existed on the TV show has all but disappeared, and the tension between the classes has largely disappeared. People's character flaws are also largely removed. As a result, much of the drama is diminished. Like I said, if you love Downton Abbey, you'll probably enjoy this movie. But, if you're expecting a bigger, better cinematic version of Downton Abbey instead of a tamer two-hour long TV episode that mostly ties up a lot of loose ends, you're expecting too much.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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Brent_MarchantSep 21, 2019

When a television series makes its transition from the small screen to the large screen, it needs to provide newcomers with enough back story to make the film understandable. Unfortunately, that's not the case with the movie version of theWhen a television series makes its transition from the small screen to the large screen, it needs to provide newcomers with enough back story to make the film understandable. Unfortunately, that's not the case with the movie version of the popular PBS series "Downton Abbey." Having not seen the broadcast version, I came in cold and left the theater feeling the same way, but for very different reasons. The picture tries to cram far too much material into its runtime, including what are obviously many hanging story threads, as well as a new major one created just for the film. The result is a hurriedly executed story that's at times difficult to follow without the back story, mixed in with some plot devices that are just downright silly, almost juvenile, in nature. Despite the film's impeccable production values and its fine performances by Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton and Imelda Staunton, it has little else to offer to viewers, except those who are for diehard fans, who are likely to love it, regardless of its many regrettable shortcomings. If you're unfamiliar with the material of this franchise, skip it; you'll save yourself boatloads of frustration, boredom and incredulity.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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JumpCut_OnlineOct 20, 2019

Downton Abbey is not without its flaws, and even ardent fans will likely have things they wished were handled differently. If they don’t end up making another film or series in ten or so years depicting the next generation of Crawleys on theDownton Abbey is not without its flaws, and even ardent fans will likely have things they wished were handled differently. If they don’t end up making another film or series in ten or so years depicting the next generation of Crawleys on the eve of World War II, everyone is bound to be disappointed. But on the whole, this is a respectable, largely satisfying resolution to a show that charmed audiences for years.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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hnestlyontheslyOct 7, 2019

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I forgot how delightful it is to dive into a television show nine years too late and have absolutely no idea of anyone’s name. The last time I did this was watching Serenity with my dad without having any knowledge of the Firefly series and I remember loving how novel it felt to not have the set up to a sequel for a sci-fi film. This movie doesn’t give a **** if you know who anyone is, and it’s not about to explain **** so you spend most of the first twenty minutes playing detective to figure out who’s new and essential and who’s an artifice of the film’s storyline.

Downton Abbey the show seems like it required like 18 characters for the plot to move, because there are actually two casts, the nobles and the staff. In Downton Abbey the movie, we need like 30 characters so that everyone has a rival, so to some extent it feels like a very, very fancy hall of mirrors.

The best, most exciting plot (twist) is the one that the story spends the least amount of time on (the Irish guy’s allegiance)–Wife says. Most of the husband characters are pretty incidental, some of them don’t even bother showing up until the final scene of the film. I’m not sure if that’s how the show also dealt with having a cast that was bursting at the scenes, if they just spent most of their time off stage until the final showstopper or if there was legitimately too much plot to cover. None of the food looks appetizing. Because there are so many plates to keep spinning at any given time, there’s not really much time to devote to any single story before you have to toggle back to the wait staff or to the butler’s side quest. But I actually think that made for some interesting self-imposed storytelling limitations, because it necessitates a lot of these large ballroom scenes where the sound shifts in and out of different dinner party conversations in a single shot, or the transferring of the plot baton from one character to another through a single shot in the style of Birdman.

SNL did a lovely job of cutting the movie to the quick by preying on its low stakes. Essentially the waitstaff’s conflict is that they have three days off but they want to work, which comes off as a little “dewy-eyed” (Wife’s term for their relationship with the system of landed aristocracy). For the noble family, there’s some shenanigans with a faraway manor that’s not entirely connected to Downton at all that seems only tangentially related to the aspirations of any of the children, but “gives Maggie Smith something to do,” as Wife put it. Maggie Smith, by the way, is the OG of this movie, except her ending is unnecessarily schmaltzy. If you’re looking for another movie where old people embrace being old but not being dead, maybe try Ian McKellan’s surprisingly awesome update to the Sherlock Holmes’s stories:

Wife was meh on the movie after having followed the series for years and dragging me to it, but I was enamored. Maybe worth it if you are going in cold rather than if you have any “advantage or disadvantage of prior acquaintance,” as Tennessee Williams put it.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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