As longtime fans of the TV show, we were interested to see how the Crawleys’ 1920s romances and soap-opera drama worked on the big screen. The same costume designer as the final seasons of the show, Anna Robbins, was onboard, but with an even bigger budget, so at least this was going to look pretty. How did the film measure up on the whole?
You can listen to us critique the Downton Abbey movie costumes online below, or on iTunes.
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HALLELUJAH THE PODCASTS ARE BACK
Dawww, we missed you too! We keep having grand plans to podcast more often…
Saw it last night. Will be sure to listen to make sure you agree with me. ;-)
SPOLERS
Thought it was a little implausible for Mary to wear that slinky Fortuny dress in front of the king and queen. Also implausible for said king and queen to have a conversation with their daughter about her marriage in the middle of a crowded ballroom. Also, king almost gets assassinated and the protection officers just let him canter off because they caught the guy??
Happy Thomas got some cute dick! Irritated that Daisy’s characterization is still the same as it was 15 years before when she was, like, 15 years old? Will happily hook up with Hot Boiler Dude since she is marrying Tall Boy with Ears and No Ambition.
Happy this story is finally over so Fellowes will stop making origami out of Branson’s value system in order to justify his fetishization of the upper classes.
HHAHAAHAHHAHA!!! Agreed on all points ;)
Concerning George V & Queen Mary discussing their daughter’s marriage in public, if by “implausible” you mean “never would have happened in a million years” then sure.
I’ll likely give the film a pass until it gets to the small screen. I just never got all that excited about the series. It was fun, but paled in comparison to Upstairs Downstairs in my opinion.
Dear Andrew,
Please write recaps of all the movies! Ever! This was faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabulous.
Just got back from seeing this. I loved it. And my word, were those costumes GORGEOUS on the big screen. I think I may have squealed a little too loud at one point, just seeing a close-up of Lady Mary’s fabulous 20s shoes.
Oh man, now I actually have to watch the film. I thought I could successfully avoid it….
I’m probably going to be in the minority here but I didn’t particularly care for the movie. Yes the costumes were divine but the plots, especially sub plots, weren’t fleshed out like they were in the series. Everything felt rushed and jumbled with a large dash of improbable. In my opinion, it was style over substance.
Listen to our podcast!
I’m about half way through so I will finish it tonight. 💖
I found it incredibly shallow, too. Pretty. A nice way to wrap up the series and the lives of all at Downton. But egads… so very subpar. Julian Fellowes does not excel at movie-length big screen plots where every last character has to have their say. But to be fair, no one does.
I too love the costumes and I enjoyed the film, but I would really like a prequel about Cora and Robert.
I miss you fantastic ladies! I would have loved it if Edith had decided to go back to being a magazine editor/writer while her (admittedly) boring husband was off with the Prince of Wales. Another thing that confused the fuck out of me is why wouldn’t Edith as a marchioness wouldn’t bring her own maid to Downton!
I also wish more time was devoted to fleshing out the maid/companion/daughter’s personality as well! The romance was cute, don’t get me wrong, it is just we don’t get enough time for her to give us any clues to her actual personality!
If the family is so poor why don’t they sell some of their wast jewel collection that breeds like the contents of a gringots bank vault
Why on earth did they make this movie? For me, the high point of “Downton Abbey” was Season One.
Money. Gobs and gobs of it.
I admit I definitely don’t mind my one pair of control top pantyhose, but I rarely use it and It does a good job at smoothing as much as I want, and stays put. And it’s over 5 years old and seems to be indestructible… This movie was so pretty, and this time around it was Edith’s costumes I was oogling instead of Mary’s but that’s because she was in so much light blue! And there was an orange thing? Regardless both girls were SO pretty!
I kind of disagree with ‘keeping going’ as implausible, most of the titled aristocracy were carrying on Exactly As They Had Before, and there were still 1.25 million domestic servants in 1939, Fellowes mostly harps on about it because we have hindsight of the watershed that came after WWII, but the decline of the country house was so gradual in the 20s and 30s that people who still had money barely noticed. Notably the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon are still in situ at the real life Downton.
I agree! There were really high taxes after WWII to help defray the costs of the war so lots of people sold or tore down their manor houses, but there are still plenty left, and a decent number still owned by the original family. Granted, most of them have made it work by turning them into museums or event centers, but they stay open that way. I think it would be interesting to make a show about the next generation and WWII, like they discussed on the podcast.