Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga review

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA: 

WILL FERRELL AND RACHEL MCADAMS MAKE SOME NOISE…AND A LOT OF LAUGHS IN THIS MUSICAL-COMEDY! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

NETFLIX

Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

            Will Ferrell (Anchorman 1 and 2, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The Other Guys) and Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls, Sherlock Holmes (2009), Game Night) take center stage in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, the new musical-comedy directed by David Dobkin (Clay Pigeons, Shanghai Knights, Wedding Crashers) now streaming on Netflix. The film was originally scheduled to be released in May to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the film was released a month later. 

            I’ve always been a fan of Will Ferrell’s work as a comedian with films like the Anchorman duology, Elf,Zoolander, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory, Step Brothers, and The Other Guys being some of my favorites whenever I need a good laugh. However, like most great comedic actors, Ferrell does have his share of misses including Bewitched, Kicking and Screaming, Get Hard, and the infamous 2018 flop, Holmes & Watson which I not only dubbed the worst movie of that year but also one of the most unpleasant times I’ve ever had watching a comedy since Son of the Mask, The Cat in the Hat, and the Steve Martin version of The Pink Panther (Read my Holmes & Watson review for more details and to hear a man crack!).

            I didn’t really know what to expect with Eurovision Song Contest but upon watching it I can gladly say that despite its occasionally formulaic and clichéd narrative, I had a very fun time with this movie. Is it one of the best and most game-changing comedies of all time? No, but I enjoyed it as a quirky, light-hearted comedy with a lot of laugh-out loud moments and a surprising amount of heart. 

            The film follows Lars (Ferrell) and Sigrit (McAdams), two childhood best friends living in Iceland who make music together as the band Fire Saga, much to the dismay of Lars’ widowed father, Erick (Pierce Brosnan-James Bondfranchise, The Matador, The Ghost Writer). Lars dreams to one day win the Eurovision Song Contest and when these aspiring musicians are given the opportunity of a lifetime to represent their country in the world’s biggest song competition, they have a chance to prove that any dream is worth fighting for as they slowly climb their way towards the gold. 

            The film also stars Mikael Persbrandt (The Hypnotist, The Hobbit 2 and 3, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) as Victor Karlosson, Demi Lovato (Camp Rock 1 and 2, Princess Protection Program, Smurfs: The Lost Village) as Katiana, Dan Stevens (Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Beauty and the Beast (2017), Legion (TV series)) as Alexander Lemtov, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (Children, Lady Dynamite, The Deep) as Neils Brongus, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson (Fortitude, Eleven Men Out, Jar City) as Arnar, Graham Norton as himself, Jamie Demetriou (Fleabag, Stath Lets Flats, Paddington 2) as Kevin Swain, Joe Kortajarena (A Single Man, Quantico, Skins) as Corin Vladvitch, Bobby Lockwood (Waterloo Road, Wolfblood, Honey 3) as Jeff, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Atomic Blonde, Alpha, Bloodshot) as Johans, Natasia Demetriou (What We Do in the Shadows (TV series), Stath Lets Flats, The Festival) as Nina, and William Lee Adams (Wiwibloggs) as himself. 

            Overall, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a funny and sweet story about pursuing your dreams made even better by the appealing chemistry between Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams. They sell both the humorous sides of their characters as well as the more heartfelt moments of the film…not to mention it also showcases their singing talents. 

Seriously, Will Ferrell’s singing in this movie is incredible and I hope he gets casted in more musical comedies in the future. Also, Rachel McAdams’ performance of the song at the end alone makes me want to get the soundtrack to this movie, Ferrell and McAdams work together wonderfully in this film. 

The side characters are also very memorable, particularly Dan Stevens as a flamboyant singer from Russia who is trying to work his moves onto McAdams, much to Ferrell’s dismay but they never make him the straight-up villain of the movie but instead to cause a very short rivalry between Stevens and Ferrell’s characters that gets resolved by the end. And the less I talk about Demi Lovato in this movie, the better but trust me, she’s hilarious once she shows up in the film. 

As entertaining as this movie is, my biggest issues with it are the narrative and script, on the surface it’s just your basic musical comedy story about a music band (or music duo in this case) and their quest for fame. Granted, this film does rely on some tiring clichés and tropes found in other movies like this such as the main characters misunderstanding each other and going their separate ways at the end of the second act, the forced sexual situation, the (slightly) slimy wealthy antagonist character, fortunately, I’m able to excuse most of this because the actors play their parts extremely well and the misunderstanding trope doesn’t last very long in this film. 

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a performance you don’t want to miss. With plenty of laughs, charm, and some very entertaining music sequences all elevated by Ferrell and McAdams’ outstanding performances. This is a trip to Iceland you will never forget.