Both the Downton Abbey movie and the television series have the same strengths and weaknesses. The acting is superb and the costumes are wonderful; however, the dialogue sounds flat and the plots are melodramatic and sometimes illogical. Audience members who have not watched the television series will be overwhelmed by the number of characters in the film.
The movie version spends too much time on the British king and queen’s visit to Downton Abbey in 1927, which I did not find very interesting. Then, script writer Julian Fellowes throws several new plot twists into the last thirty minutes without really developing the characters or the situations, which I found much more potentially enticing than the pomp and circumstance of a royal entourage. Fellowes tries to tie up loose ends from the television show. For example, he finds a new love for Tom Branson, a new love for the scullery maid Daisy Robinson, and another new love for the gay butler Thomas Barrows. Marital discord between some royal and nonroyal couples gets quickly resolved without being developed sufficiently.
Unless viewers are addicted fans of the Downton Abbey television series, I do not recommend the movie because the uninitiated will find the dozens of characters too confusing. Fans of the television show will enjoy seeing their favorite actors again, but the film’s weak plot and lack of character development make the movie version unsatisfying.
