Downton Abby is writer Julian Fellowes’ satisfying wrap-up of the beloved series. So how good is it? It’s well-crafted and brings a hopeful, romantic and sentimental conclusion to virtually every character in the series.
It’s now 1927, and the aristocratic Crawley family and the Downton Abbey staff must host a visit from the King and Queen on short notice. There are two sources of conflict. Upstairs, there is a question of inheritance, which is where the series began, and which introduces a new character (played by the great Imelda Staunton) to do social combat with Violet (Maggie Smith). Downstairs, the royal family has a traveling squad of servants who try to humiliatingly push aside the Downton staff for the visit.
Fellowes gets credit for creating the marvelous character of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham. The delightfully unfiltered Violet has allowed Maggie Smith to scene-steal for a decade, and she returns with her cutting bon mots and appalled reaction to modernity.
There is one shark-jumping scene, an action thriller sequence that isn’t really necessary for the story. It serves to make a point about the character of Tom, but that point could have ben made without the Jack Ryan moment.
Downton Abbey is not really a stand-alone movie. If you haven’t watched the series, it won’t mean as much. This is a series finale – it’s just in theaters instead of on TV
This is not The Sopranos, Throne of Blood or Tales of the City. Pretty much all Downtown Abbey fans will feel good about where the story concludes.