Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Title: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Director: Joachim Ronning
Genre: Comedy, Musical
Main Cast: Will Ferrel, Rachael McAdams, Dan Stevens, Pierce Brosnan.
Runtime: 123 mins
MDb rating: 6.7/10.
My rating: 5/10.
Quick summary: Lars and Sigrit have always dreamed of winning the Eurovision song contest. Despite being told by almost everyone in their little Icelandic town that they are not good enough, they make it to the finals and may just have the chance to win the whole thing.

I’m not going to lie to you. This is not a very good movie. The production value is high and the cast is impressive and there are some very good moments. Overall, though, it is just another Will Ferrel movie that isn’t as funny as he might have thought it could be. However, the one thing Ferrel does and has done in his last few movies is have fun. It is clear that his costars have fun with the script and the nonsensical premises too.

The music is the winner in this film. There is a fantastic melody mash-up at a Eurovision party featuring our main cast and some cameos from Eurovision stars of the recent past. ABBA meets the Black Eyed Peas and many more. The song is quite catchy.
The final song, sung by Molly Sanden, is a beautiful piece of work. It is a homage to Iceland and the small hometown that our characters hail from. It also features the Icelandic language which is a nice touch.

Unfortunately, the beautiful songs alone don’t make this a fantastic film. This is a movie where you will be glued to your phone throughout, your head popping up briefly for the singing parts. The movie is too long at two hours and three minutes. Ferrell pokes fun at Americans throughout the movie, continuing his gag at the very end. It seems a bit much and not all of the jokes land. I was reminded of Adam Sandler’s first few Netflix movies, like Ridiulous 6. It was wacky, featured a lot of big names and relied on physical harm and crude jokes for laughs. It pains me to say this as a fan of Sandler and Ferrell, but both of those films were probably passion projects that shouldn’t have been made.

I suppose, though, in the end I still laughed at bits and pieces. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck for Iceland’s final song. Maybe I’m being too harsh with the rating? Am I growing cynical in my old age? Let me know in the comments below!