Passing The Torch - ("Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale" Review)

 I have a hard time committing to a television show...especially if it contains multiple seasons that I have to catch up on. Having said that, when the first feature film based on the Downton Abbey series came to movie theaters, I was very much interested in seeing it. Normally, certain television series like "The X-Files" would release a feature film that was accessible to audiences who weren't fully steeped into the shows. I always appreciated that when it came to those type of theatrical releases. And the 2019 film was no different. Setting the cast of the show in a somewhat historical happening as King George V and Queen Mary toured Yorkshire (an event that actually happened in the late 1920's), the film was able to tell a standalone story that still managed to capture the charm of the show. Later on in 2022, a sequel entitled "Downton Abbey: A New Era" set the stage for newer characters to take the spotlight...all while a standalone story of a film crew making a movie at Downton Abbey made for a delightful experience, showing the last legs of the Roaring '20's.  It was also an emotional sendoff for the magnificent Dame Maggie Smith, an acting titan of Great Britain.

So now we come to the 'grand finale' of this wonderful film trilogy, with this one being set in 1930. The great stock market Crash of 1929 already happened and Lady Grantham's brother Harold (played by the wonderful Paul Giamatti) was financially affected by it. His financial advisor Sambrook is looking for funds to recover, but it is quickly revealed that he is a snake oil salesman. Meanwhile Lady Mary Talbot is embroiled in a scandal of divorce. No longer able to mingle in polite society, she struggles to cope as the heir to Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham. 

This film is striking as it shows how polite society reacted to divorce, which is now a non event when it comes to people and their status in the world. But those were the times. But what the main story played out expertly was how Robert Crawley struggled with handing over the reigns to Mary. In this current age we live in, there a great many elderly leaders who are fighting for power and just can't hand over the reigns to the next generation. Robert Crawley found within himself to put aside those urges to keep power and acknowledged that Mary was fit to take over Downton Abbey. If only the political leaders of today were so wise...

This was a most wonderful period drama. You got to witness 1930's London, the fabulous horse races of the day, and even simpler events like a state fair. You get a window into those times and after a great financial crisis, see how even the upper class struggled to maintain and keep their houses in order. 

And a final farewell to a wonderful lady. Rest in peace, Dame Maggie Smith.

BY JESS SOLIS