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Movie Review: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Mike Tyrkus

Will Ferrell hasn’t headlined a well-received comic film since The Other Guys (2010), depending on your taste in comedies—especially if you’re not including The Lego Movie (2014) for which he was the main antagonist but not really the star per se. One would think he personally had a lot riding on the success of his new film, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, since he not only stars in, but also produced and co-wrote the film. It is then disappointing and somewhat disconcerting at just how tedious and repeatedly unfunny the film turns out to be.

Given that Americans may not know exactly how important the Eurovision contest is to the European market, the breadth and scope of the film may feel bewildering to many from the start. The film tells the story of best friends Lars Erickssong (Ferrell) and his partner Sigrit (Rachel McAdams), whose band—Fire Saga—becomes, almost by accident, Iceland’s official entry into the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. They are, of course, totally in over their heads and hilarity is expected to ensure. Unfortunately, it never does; nor does the “little guy (and girl)” triumphing against all odds story that the film seems to aspire to become.

Although Ferrell and co-star McAdams, who effortlessly steals the film from Ferrell at every turn here, display a decent amount of chemistry together the pairing never feels quite as believable as it should. Perhaps having Ferrell play the Machiavelli character against a McAdams ingénue rather than her potential love interest would have led to a storyline with more comic potential allowing to Ferrell to do his schtick and not take away from the main story.

Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams in “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.” Photo by Elizabeth Viggiano/NETFLIX – © 2020 Netflix, Inc.

Those quibbles aside (because, really, who goes into a Ferrell film expecting credibility), the film simply doesn’t move along very well. At over two hours, the running time easily feels about thirty minutes longer than it needs to be. Unfortunately, the climactic performances of the contest are far less rewarding than they needed to be to make sitting through the rest of the film a worthwhile endeavor.

Director David Dobkin delivers as effectively as he has done in the past with comedies Wedding Crashers (2005) or even the lesser The Change-Up (2011), but there is such a sense of going through the motions here that even the formulaic nature of the lovable losers story becomes tired and boring.

Ultimately, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, proves to be a decent enough showcase for McAdams but a disappointing outing for Ferrell. That combination unfortunately leaves the film lacking sorely in overall entertainment value for the time needed to sit through the film’s rather exorbitant running time.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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