Julian Fellowes, the mastermind behind the Downton Abbey series, decides to juggle the massive cast of 39 characters in Downton Abbey: A New Era by running two parallel plots. The first plot is Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) confronting the problem of a leaky roof at Downtown Abbey with the solution offered by a film crew who want to shoot their new movie on site–and will pay handsomely for the privilege. Fellowes “borrows” from Singin’ in the Rain when the silent film morphs into a talkie.
The second track involves what the Dowager Countess Violet Grantham (Maggie Smith) did 50 years ago with the Marquis de Montmirail that caused the Marquis to leave a fabulous villa in Southern France to Violet after his death. Lord and Lady Grantham (Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern) with a posse of family members, travel to France to investigate.
I confess, my eyes misted up a couple of time during this movie. Julian Fellowes knows how to use his gifted cast to move an audience. The sold-out AMC theater where Diane and I watched Downton Abbey: A New Era sniffled right with me during those dramatic moments.
If you’re a Downton Abbey fan, you’ll love Downton Abbey: A New Era. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will walk out of the theater filled with enjoyment of an old fashioned movie. GRADE: A
I can’t think of a movie that would get me back into a theater these days, and this is definitely not the one. We will watch it when it is available to stream. I will probably like it more than Fellowes’s mediocre THE GILDED AGE. I read about the ripoff of SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN. The other storyline reminds me of the Hermione Gingold song “Liaisons” from Sondheim’s A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.
Glad you enjoyed it, but the words “sold out theater” send chills up my spine. Unless they are 100% masked, as they still have to be on Broadway, I’m not going.
Jeff, your intuition is right on the money: Diane and I were about the only audience members in the AMC theater who were wearing N95 masks. As you might suspect, most of the people who showed up to watch DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA were in their 60s or 70s. Plenty of walkers, canes, and wheelchairs!
I haven’t been in a movie theater since before the plague, and probably won’t anytime soon, but I’ll certainly see this eventually. Everything I know about my taste tells me I shouldn’t like DA, but I started it and have stuck with it. I’ll second Jeff”s opinion of “The Gilded Age”.
Michael, Diane and I enjoyed DOWNTON ABBEY on PBS and followed the large cast and their stories through two movies. If DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA makes money, we’ll probably see another Downton Abbey movie in a couple of years.
I won’t laugh! I won’t cry! I won’t see it! My mother loved the original series but I didn’t watch it! I wasn’t hostile, just disinterested!
Bob, Downton Abbey is basically a classy soup opera.
I’m waiting for Steve’s fawning comment!
I’d watch this tomorrow if I could see it here at home, but a packed theater is too much.
Rick, I’m sure one of the streaming services will broadcast DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA in the weeks ahead. Be sure you watch it with some Kleenex in you hand!
I haven’t seen much of all those classical US tv series (except of course Dallas and Startrek) but that definition sounds interesting:
“classy soup opera”
Could you please explain, George?
Wolf, Downton Abbey is set in the 1920s England where the economics of running a large estate challenges the upper class landowners. Also, social changes are affecting the large staff of cooks, cleaners, butlers, etc. needed to run the operation. Within this context, Julian Fellowes, a veteran screenwriter and show runner–interlace the problems and concerns of the family who is fighting to save Downton Abbey and the staff working day-to-day to maintain its viability. Romance, humor, and tension fuel the plot as a brilliant cast keeps the audience involved.
K. and I saw this last Wednesday, George, at a special showing that included a recap – which was helpful.
I really enjoyed it and did get a little misty when Maggie passed – not a spoiler since she told everyone she was terminal at the end of the last movie.
Not surprising Mary’s husband was a no-show. He’s one of the few characters I didn’t care about. We sat thru the credits, just in case he rolled up at the end and Mary clocked him one.
Beth, Lady Mary’s husband can disappear for all I care. I have a crush on Lady Mary that goes way back to the beginning of DOWNTON ABBEY. I fall for intelligent women.