The last waltz

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LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Tuesday, September 16th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Lindsay Mast.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Coming up next on The World and Everything in It, saying goodbye to the Crawley family. After 15 years, six seasons, two movies, and countless cups of Earl Grey, the final installment of the acclaimed British drama Downton Abbey hit theaters over the weekend.

The film pulled in $18 million at the US box office, well below the first movie’s debut six years ago.

MAST: Arts and culture editor Collin Garbarino saw Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and says the film gives audiences what they expect, but not much more.

COLLIN GARBARINO: Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale wants to be, well, a grand finale for writer Julian Fellowes’ high-brow soap opera.

This installment doesn’t stray from the franchise’s regular themes: familial scandal, financial woes, and changing social customs—all of which threaten Britain’s ruling class in the early 20th century. The Crawley family story has now made it to the year 1930, and the latest scandal has to do with the family’s eldest daughter Lady Mary.

LADY PETERSFIELD: A rather tricky situation has arisen.

LADY GRANTHAM: Why? What’s happened?

LADY PETERSFIELD: My maid just told me…

LADY EDITH: Your maid just told you what?

LADY PETERSFIELD: That Lady Mary is divorced.

Lady Mary’s race-car-driving husband—whom she married in Season 6—has abandoned her. I can only assume the actor who played him wasn’t available for this sequel. Anyway, Mary—once again played by Michelle Dockery—has become something of a social pariah.

LORD GRANTHAM: You’re chucking my daughter out of your house?

LADY PETERSFIELD: Most reluctantly, I assure you. The royal highnesses would be badly compromised if anyone found out.

LORD GRANTHAM: I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous—

LADY MARY: Papa, it’s alright. I’ll go.

Troubles compound when the family finds out part of their fortune has evaporated because Lady Grantham’s American brother, played by Paul Giamatti, has made some poor investments.

HAROLD LEVINSON: I’m the one who’s let everyone down. You trusted me, and I wasn’t worthy of that trust.

LADY GRANTHAM: You’re worthy of my love, and that won’t change.

The plot, such as it is, revolves around extricating the family from these twin disasters of losing its good name and its money. But the movie doesn’t possess a tight narrative. Instead, Fellowes has given us a vague impression of a story. People do and say things that are meant to drive toward a resolution, but upon reflection, you realize the challenges and the consequences seem fabricated. For example, Mary, reeling from her divorce, abandons morality in a scene that should carry some emotional ramifications… But she carries on, stoic and self-centered as ever. The family continually praises her as she pushes her far-from-infirm father out of his role as head of the family. And don’t get me started on Mary’s nonsensical plan for restoring the lost fortune. She says the family needs to keep its wealth in real estate to weather the impending economic downturn, but then she forces her father to sell a beloved piece of real estate to weather the impending economic downturn.

And then there’s the film’s progressivist moralizing. But I admit this theme that the social customs of the upper classes need to give way to more up-to-date ideas was baked into the series from the very beginning.

THOMAS BARROW: I suppose you think Lady Mary has lost her moral compass, Mr. Carson.

MRS. HUGHES: Perhaps we should all have a different compass these days.

The movie feels preachy when you hear characters repeat the same tiresome statements about how the world would be better if we all just loosened up a little. There’s always been some irony at the heart of this series that glorifies the British aristocracy while simultaneously resenting their beliefs.

At its core, the most important lesson of Downton Abbey is that every problem can be solved if you invite the right guests to a dinner party.

DAISY PARKER: This really is the night that shook the world.

Because the story is such a mess, I can’t in good conscience call this a good movie. But I have to admit that I enjoyed it nonetheless. Fellowes’ dialogue doesn’t sparkle like it used to, but there are some amusing scenes. Like the one in which Lord Grantham and Lady Mary go hunting for an apartment.

LORD GRANTHAM: The family upstairs? What about downstairs? Is a family there too?

LADY MARY: I don’t know if it’s a family.

LORD GRANTHAM: How peculiar… a sort of layer cake of strangers.

Fundamentally, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale isn’t so much a film as an excuse to hang out with old friends. Mr. Carson the gruff but lovable butler, Mrs. Hughes the wise housekeeper, Mrs. Patmore the formidable cook, Daisy the meek yet steely kitchen maid, and most importantly Anna and Mr. Bates whose romance was the only thing that kept me watching the series after the first season. Of course, the absence of the late Maggie Smith’s Lady Violet looms over the entire film.

Getting to see these enduring characters in opulent settings and luxurious costumes one last time will undoubtedly delight most fans of the franchise. But the only beautiful things in this film are its atmospherics and vibes. For the most part this grand finale relies on our craving for nostalgia to impart pleasure, rather than offering any merit of its own.

LORD GRANTHAM: So this is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

I’m Collin Garbarino

[Downton Abbey theme]

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