Delayed Reaction: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Premise: An Icelandic singing duo become unlikely finalists in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Eurovision Song Contest is nuts. It's been around for decades but only in the last couple years has it made its way to wider (but still not wide) attention in the US. That makes it a decidedly European phenomenon with no American equivalent. The Masked Singer is the only thing in America that even comes remote close to the spirit of Eurovision. In my mind, I tend to think of it like The Gong Show in the 70s, but in reality, Eurovision is much more respectable than that. It's over-the-top and gloriously kitschy at times, but there's a lot of talent on display there too. In other words, it's pretty perfect for a comedy movie.

Will Ferrell when he gets bored is a problem. I'm forever in the pro-Will Ferrell camp. Stranger Than Fiction is my favorite movie and is why I've never doubted him as a leading man. He's a legendary SNL performer and probably tops the list of people who could make any random group of people laugh. His early '00s were pretty unimpeachable. Old School, Elf, and Anchorman all showed off different sides of his comic persona. Since then, his movies have had mixed results, and they generally fall along the lines of his engagement with the material. Other than Step Brothers and maybe Talladega Nights (both of which people seem to like more than I do), his major studio "paycheck movies" have been pretty disappointing. Weirdly, his best work has been in smaller projects that either let him stretch himself or really let him commit to a bit; stuff where it feels like he's getting away with something. Because, when he commits to a bit, he can't phone it in. He has to care about the project. Casa de mi Padre is a great example of this. He basically learned Spanish for this tiny movie that no one saw where the only joke was that it was ridiculous to have Will Ferrell was playing the lead in this spaghetti western. People love his bonkers appearances on Eastbound & Down. Remember A Deadly Adoption: the Lifetime Movie he did for fun? You get the feeling that his favorite ideas are the ones that he immediately thought "No one will ever let me do that".

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is probably the best middle ground we've seen in years between a major studio comedy and Will Ferrell passion project. His wife is Swedish, and apparently, he's been a fan of Eurovision since she introduced him to it in the late 90s. In my mind, he heard Netflix was throwing out money for projects then grabbed a script he had that no studio would touch and said "Please" really intensely but in a way that also made them laugh.

Overall, this is my favorite Will Ferrell movie in a while. He brings his usual verve to his role but there isn't as much desperation to make every punchline hit. He finally found a topic that he can't be more absurd than. With something like Sherlock Holmes or going to jail, it's possible to go too big or touch a third rail topic. That's not happening with Eurovision. So, I can't say there's anything special about his character this time. He's just not out of place in this world. I don't know why it took everyone until Game Night to remember that Rachel McAdams is really, really funny. She is an excellent scene partner for Ferrell. She's able to play off him well and be the straight man when needed, but she's equally able to get laughs of her own; often laughs that I didn't see coming. She's really great at getting laughs out of saying crazy lines like they are normal. The movie is pretty gloriously international. After the two leads, Dan Stevens, and Pierce Brosnan, I hardly recognized anyone else in the central cast. And it's full of cameos that I'm sure would mean more to me if I actually followed Eurovision. This movie really is a celebration of the things that make that competition special while still neatly fitting the "Will Ferrell movie" description.

I could get into the plot, but why? The movie repeatedly makes a joke out of how flimsy the story is. It turns what you'd expect to be a climactic scenes in the third act into a couple weird jokes about elves and supernatural pop singers. Let's be honest, if you get more than three lines into the silly accents in this movie without realizing that you don't need to work very hard to watch this, then you're doing it wrong.

I feel like I've had a lot of weak responses to movies lately, so, you know what? I liked this movie...

Verdict: Strongly Recommend