Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (B or 3/4 stars)
Will Ferrell & Rachel McAdams star as small-town Icelanders with pop-star dreams in 'Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga' (directed by David Dobkin, of Wedding Crashers, The Judge). Eurovision, a predecessor to American Idol and every show like it, was founded in 1956 and, its most famous success stories include Sweden's ABBA, who won in 1974 (with Waterloo) & Celine Dion, who won by representing Switzerland in 1988. Inherently, Eurovision is ripe for lampoonery, though the film opts for affectionate tribute as often as it seems to make light of it.
Lars Erickssong (Ferrell) & Sigrit Ericksdottir (McAdams) came out of their shells as children while watching ABBA win the annually televised song contest and, have been a musical duo ever since; much to the chagrin of Lars' widowed fisherman father, Erick (Pierce Brosnan). Lars & Sigrit write original music for their band, Fire Saga, but even the villagers in their local pub prefer them to play anything but their own music - with exception to the very fun "Ja Ja Ding Dong". Lars & Sigrit's dream is not only to enter the Eurovision contest but to also win it. And when the people running Iceland public TV must select a 12th band to fill out the regional finals roster, Fire Saga gets luck of the draw. Though they perform horribly, luck {or maybe the elves did it} intervenes when a party boat explodes, killing the other 11 acts, including fave, Katiana Lindsdottir (Demi Lovato). Though this scene is played for goofy laughs, I wasn't that amused.
So, as Iceland's entry, Lars & Sigrit head-off to Edinburgh, Scotland for the big show but realize that they are up against stiff competition, such as handsome, rich & flamboyant Russian sex-god Alexander Lemtov (scene-stealing Dan Stevens, of Downton Abbey fame), who turns his eye to Sigrit. Another top competitor includes sensuous Greek singer Mita Xenakis (Melissanthia Mahut), who turns her eye to Lars. These romantic entanglements put our duo on uneasy ground. They lack focus during the competition. And though Sigrit has longed for Lars since they were young, he has been slow on the uptake to reciprocate her feelings. Lars must realize & declare his love for Sigrit if they're ever to win the contest he has dreamed about his whole life.
Like most films I've seen lately, this one took a while to sink its teeth into me. Something about the opening half hour or so turned me off. The jokes weren't landing, or seemed way too obvious. And the script (co-written by Ferrell & Andrew Steele) suffers from too-familiar character-types {looking at you, Pierce Brosnan's Erick}. But once action shifts to Edinburgh, the film settles down. 'Eurovision ...' is nicely directed by David Dobkin; though, he could've trimmed a little off the 2 hour run time. And I enjoyed most of the slick musical sequences; including a mash-up "song-along" that occurs during a party in a mansion. Not all of the kitschy songs impress, but most are silly fun.
The character of Lars is quintessential Will Ferrell: broadly ridiculous ... just like most of the humor sprinkled throughout the film. As he did in both Blades of Glory (ice skating) & Anchorman (TV news), Ferrell again plays the 'buffoonish man-child persona' who becomes unhinged & wreaks havoc. Having said that, his shtick has gotten old. And though he's still an amiable presence, I took much more to wonderful Rachel McAdams & the surprising Dan Stevens. She is as adorable and as capable as ever in nailing both comedic & dramatic beats. And Stevens is a RIOT as the gaudy Russian singer with a thinly-veiled secret.
As mentioned earlier, the film gets better as it goes and absolutely crescendos with the climactic "Husavik" song that single-handedly raised my C+/2 star rating up to B-/2.5 star territory. In a sea of silly/fun songs, THIS one knocked me out of my seat as an epic ballad and - intercut with Icelanders proudly watching the song being sung back home - made me tear-up. It's just a stunner of a song. I also must comment on how surprisingly ambitious in scope this little Netflix film is, with Anna B. Sheppard's elaborate costumes & gorgeous international backdrops. All said & done, 'Eurovision' turns out to be cute. Despite some wonky bits & some oddball antics ... a high-spirited sincerity pierces through that won me over in the end.
Lars Erickssong (Ferrell) & Sigrit Ericksdottir (McAdams) came out of their shells as children while watching ABBA win the annually televised song contest and, have been a musical duo ever since; much to the chagrin of Lars' widowed fisherman father, Erick (Pierce Brosnan). Lars & Sigrit write original music for their band, Fire Saga, but even the villagers in their local pub prefer them to play anything but their own music - with exception to the very fun "Ja Ja Ding Dong". Lars & Sigrit's dream is not only to enter the Eurovision contest but to also win it. And when the people running Iceland public TV must select a 12th band to fill out the regional finals roster, Fire Saga gets luck of the draw. Though they perform horribly, luck {or maybe the elves did it} intervenes when a party boat explodes, killing the other 11 acts, including fave, Katiana Lindsdottir (Demi Lovato). Though this scene is played for goofy laughs, I wasn't that amused.
So, as Iceland's entry, Lars & Sigrit head-off to Edinburgh, Scotland for the big show but realize that they are up against stiff competition, such as handsome, rich & flamboyant Russian sex-god Alexander Lemtov (scene-stealing Dan Stevens, of Downton Abbey fame), who turns his eye to Sigrit. Another top competitor includes sensuous Greek singer Mita Xenakis (Melissanthia Mahut), who turns her eye to Lars. These romantic entanglements put our duo on uneasy ground. They lack focus during the competition. And though Sigrit has longed for Lars since they were young, he has been slow on the uptake to reciprocate her feelings. Lars must realize & declare his love for Sigrit if they're ever to win the contest he has dreamed about his whole life.
Like most films I've seen lately, this one took a while to sink its teeth into me. Something about the opening half hour or so turned me off. The jokes weren't landing, or seemed way too obvious. And the script (co-written by Ferrell & Andrew Steele) suffers from too-familiar character-types {looking at you, Pierce Brosnan's Erick}. But once action shifts to Edinburgh, the film settles down. 'Eurovision ...' is nicely directed by David Dobkin; though, he could've trimmed a little off the 2 hour run time. And I enjoyed most of the slick musical sequences; including a mash-up "song-along" that occurs during a party in a mansion. Not all of the kitschy songs impress, but most are silly fun.
The character of Lars is quintessential Will Ferrell: broadly ridiculous ... just like most of the humor sprinkled throughout the film. As he did in both Blades of Glory (ice skating) & Anchorman (TV news), Ferrell again plays the 'buffoonish man-child persona' who becomes unhinged & wreaks havoc. Having said that, his shtick has gotten old. And though he's still an amiable presence, I took much more to wonderful Rachel McAdams & the surprising Dan Stevens. She is as adorable and as capable as ever in nailing both comedic & dramatic beats. And Stevens is a RIOT as the gaudy Russian singer with a thinly-veiled secret.
As mentioned earlier, the film gets better as it goes and absolutely crescendos with the climactic "Husavik" song that single-handedly raised my C+/2 star rating up to B-/2.5 star territory. In a sea of silly/fun songs, THIS one knocked me out of my seat as an epic ballad and - intercut with Icelanders proudly watching the song being sung back home - made me tear-up. It's just a stunner of a song. I also must comment on how surprisingly ambitious in scope this little Netflix film is, with Anna B. Sheppard's elaborate costumes & gorgeous international backdrops. All said & done, 'Eurovision' turns out to be cute. Despite some wonky bits & some oddball antics ... a high-spirited sincerity pierces through that won me over in the end.