Blimey! These movies, based on the hit TV series, are critic-proof. You either like them or you don’t. I find myself in the former category, and I thought this was simply the bee’s knees. They’re more than mere fan service; no corners were cut on the acting, the cinematography or the period detail. And I’ll watch anything starring Michelle Dockery (okay, maybe except Flight Risk; everyone makes mistakes).

It’s the end of the 20s; Lady Mary (Dockery) has brought social disgrace to the house by getting (justifiably) divorced, American Uncle Harold (Paul Giamotti) has lost a good chunk of the family fortune in the U.S. stock crash, and the Crawleys in many ways are being forced to rethink, modernize and downsize. And pass the baton. The strength of both the TV series and the movies is now well Julian Fellowes juggles several disparate plotlines with great character development and believability. I won’t go into detail, but all but a few of the upstairs/downstairs characters are back (the film is dedicated in the closing credits to Maggie Smith). Each of their stories is engaging and in most cases all the loose ends are tied up in a very satisfying manner. Manipulative? Maybe. But it worked for me. I even got a bit misty a few times near the end. I hate it when that happens. (123 min)