I must confess that I observed British TV drama series “Downton Abbey” as frequently going back and forth between amusement and annoyance from the beginning to the end. This is basically your average British upstairs/downstairs class drama, and I could not help but notice how lofty and messy its main characters are, but I was also amused and touched by how they turn out to be more flexible and adaptable than they seem at first.

Even after its six seasons, the series was followed by two feature films which are more or less than encores for its faithful fans, and now there comes “Downtown Abbey: The Grand Finale”, which is supposed to be the real last chapter for the main characters of the series. Considering another big social upheaval to come into their world sooner or later, I am not so sure whether this is indeed the end, but the movie works as a solid send-off to satisfy its target audiences at least. 

The story, which is set in 1930, begins with Lord Crawley (Hugh Benneville) and his several family members and some of his employees enjoying a stage performance in London. Needless to say, he and his family members watch the performance from a better spot while his employers enjoy the show from a less expensive one, but we cannot help but notice how narrow the class gap between these groups is as they casually enjoy the performance along with many other audiences in the same theater.

However, this good time does not last that long. While Lord Crawley stays at his family house in London along with his family members, Harold (Paul Giamatti), the brother of his American wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), arrives, and he has a really bad news for the Crawley family. He somehow lost most of his and his sister’s considerable fortune due to some lousy investment, and it seems that a business associate of his, who incidentally comes along with him, can help solve this serious trouble. 

Meanwhile, the Crawley family come to have another trouble to deal with. Mary (Michelle Dockery), the eldest daughter of Lord Crawley, suddenly comes to draw a lot of public attention due to her recent divorce with her second husband, and many members of her high society are not amused to say the least. At one point, she is blatantly asked to leave by the hostess of a big party she attends along with her family members, and her parents are certainly exasperated as watching their dear daughter being ostracized in not only London but also their neighborhood.

Meanwhile, we also see how things are going fairly well in the downstairs area in the Crawley manor. After Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) retired, his position is taken by Mr. Carter (Michael Fox), and Mr. Carter and Mrs. Carson (Phyllis Logan), who is still the housekeeper even after marrying Mr. Carson, steadily maintain the status quo along with Mrs. Carter (Sophie McShera), who is now about to succeed Mrs. Mason (Lesley Nicol) as the new cook of the manor.

Nevertheless, the ongoing social change in the British society is also coming into these and other employees’ world. Thanks to Mrs. Wilton (Isobel Grey), who is the mother of Mary’s deceased first husband and is still very close to the Crawley family, Mrs. Mason and Mr. Carson join a local committee supervising an annual fair, and they certainly help Mrs. Wilton a lot when she has to deal with a certain disagreeable member of the local committee.

As deftly shuffling these several storylines, the screenplay by Julian Fellows, who has steadily handled the script for the TV drama series as well as the two previous films, adds something which can be regarded as a cherry on the top. Guy Dexter (Dominic West), a famous movie star who once stayed at the Crawley manor for shooting his movie there, later comes along with Noël Coward (Arty Froushan), and he is also accompanied by Mr. Barrow (Robert James-Collier), who once worked in the Crawley manor but is now Dexter’s personal assistant while being very, very, very close to Dexter behind their back.

Dexter and Coward surely give some big help Mary and her family later in the story, and what follows next is the poignant final act where the Crawley family come to accept more of how much they must change themselves for keeping their dear manor and its long history as long as possible. While Lord Crawley and his dear wife become more willing to change the inevitable changes to come into what may be the last chapter of their life, Mary becomes all the more confident as being in the full charge of her family’s manor and estate, and her younger sister Edith (Laura Carmichael) and Mr. Branson (Allen Leach), the husband of her deceased youngest sister, are certainly ready to give Mary more support than ever.

 As they did in the TV drama series and the following two movies, the main cast members effortlessly slip into their respective roles as letting the guest performers of the movie steal the show from time to time. Paul Giamatti is dependable as usual, Simon Russell Beale, Arty Froushan, Alessandro Nivola, and Joely Richardson are also effective in their substantial guest appearances.

On the whole, “Downton Abbey: the Grand Finale” is clearly another shot at attracting the fans of the TV drama series, but it is equipped well with the same wit and fun observed from the TV drama series and the two preceding feature films. To be frank with you, I am now curious about how these interesting people of Downton Abbey will be changed much more by another big war and the following social change during the late 20th century, and I will not mind if Fellows thinks that is interesting enough for creating the sequel TV series.