Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
123 min.
Release Date: June 26, 2020 (Netflix)
Lovingly embracing and gently ribbing the inherent silliness of a specific music scene—in this case, an annual European song competition—sounds like something Christopher Guest and his troupe might have taken a crack at as a mockumentary. One part sincere, one part satirical, and all parts absurdly daffy, “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” should wear out its welcome early like a cute, comically inspired sketch being stretched a hair over two hours. It is needlessly overlong, but one doesn’t expect the mere idea of Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams playing an Icelandic musical duo to practically sell itself and be so damn hard to resist.
In the small fishing town of HúsavÃk, Iceland, Lars Erickssong (Will Ferrell) learned to sing and dance, devastated at his mother’s wake and finding hope in watching ABBA perform on the televised 1974 Eurovision finals. He dedicated his life to one day showing everyone who ever laughed at him, including no-nonsense father Erick (Pierce Brosnan), and winning Eurovision Song Contest for his home country. Lars couldn’t do it, though, without his best friend and other half of musical duo Fire Saga, the once-voluntarily-mute Sigrit Ericksdottir (Rachel McAdams). No one in town, nay, the country has faith in them and their music, but sure enough Lars and Sigrit become Iceland’s entry into the competition by default after a mysterious fire. Will their love for one another and passion for their music hold strong through the temptations that come with rise to fame?
Co-written by Will Ferrell and frequent collaborator Andrew Steele (2012’s “Casa de mi Padre”) and directed by David Dobkin (2014’s “The Judge”), “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” is more plainly silly than funny, but much like Lars and Sigrit, it's also endearingly sweet and generally difficult to dislike. Narratively, the underdog-dreamer plot trajectory is never in doubt, but Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams are such an unexpectedly generous pair who make each other better. As usual, Ferrell commits himself to playing a clueless clod, albeit a sweetly clueless clod with an accent, like Lars, but as his wonderful foil, McAdams is the standout, as she cannot help but be likable, smart and lovely. Because McAdams plays Sigrit so earnestly with guileless warmth and emotion that never rings false, it’s pretty easy to put forth rooting interest in Fire Saga and not hard to believe her character actually pines for Lars. Also, McAdams beautifully sells the vocals, even if it’s quite clear that she isn’t actually singing (the vocals would belong to Swedish pop singer Molly Sandén). When the film coasts on the actors performing hammy Icelandic shtick, that single joke isn't strong enough to always land like it should; for instance, when Lars and Sigrit name-drop “Simon & Garfunkel,” they pronounce “Simon” as “semen.” A little better is the running joke that Lars and Sigrit are “probably not” brother and sister because Icelanders accidentally dating a relative isn’t uncommon.
To be sure, this is director David Dobkin’s flashiest, most cinematic and visually inspired film to date. Even if he still has an aversion to editing, Dobkin steps up his game in terms of making this look like a vibrant production, and the bombastic pageantry, kitschy costuming and overall spectacular staging of the Eurovision performances are all dead-on. Some of the songs are even catchy in a poppy sort of way, especially “Volcano Man” in the pricelessly cringe-worthy opening where Lars and Sigrit imagine their basement practice as an overblown Nordic music video. Best of all is a joyous, lively song-along at Alexander’s mansion party, featuring songs by Cher, Madonna, ABBA and The Black Eyed Peas performed by past Eurovision winners. Showcasing Dobkin’s music-video roots, this set-piece is thrillingly shot and edited, decidedly the film’s biggest highlight. Another one of the film’s secret weapons is Dan Stevens (2017's "The Man Who Invented Christmas"). Hamming it up but somehow finding actual sincerity and more than one dimension, Stevens is a gas as Alexander Lemtov, an over-the-top Russian playboy who tempts Sigrit before being true to himself. In the role of Lars’ father Erick Erickssong (that’s no typo), Pierce Brosnan amuses, and appreciably, he does not get another stab at singing ABBA here.
As much as it loses steam by the end with another half hour left—even a knowingly useless device involving the burning ghost of an Icelandic pop star (Demi Lovato) could have been excised—“Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” is amiable if not quite hilarious. It elicits smiles and giggles rather than big guffaws. There is a running bit that involves legendary Icelandic elves, who remain unseen but may bring Sigrit’s dreams to fruition, and the payoffs are wickedly funny both times. Jabs at Starbucks-drinking Americans are easy but get a laugh nonetheless. Without a malicious bone in its body, it’s all more affectionate than you would think and hits the right emotional beats at the end with fellow Icelandic composer Sigur Rós helping in that regard. Fire Saga’s core of sweetness might just keep growing on you more and more in hindsight.
Grade: B -
Comments
Post a Comment