Generally, I like Will Ferrell’s work…when it’s done right. Ferrell has, on occasion, pushed himself in new directions, but he can be quite funny even when he doesn’t, often playing loud man-children who need to adapt to the world around them better than they already have. True, it doesn’t always work, as movies like Downhill or Holmes and Watson have proven, but many times, especially when working with his former frequent collaborator Adam McKay, there are still gems like Anchorman, Talladega Nights, or The Other Guys that I find quite hilarious.
Ferrell’s most recent, directed by Wedding Crashers‘s director David Dobkin, is Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, a new comedy that dropped right onto Netflix, perhaps because this year has been well and truly screwy. Will this be a good Ferrell comedy or a dreary one?
Ferrell stars as Lars Erickssong, a wannabe pop star from a young age whose sole ambition is to win the Eurovision annual pop song contest. His longrunning partner is his best friend Sigrit Ericksdottir (Rachel McAdams), who may or may not be his sister (no one is quite certain). Sigrit has been part of Lars’s dream since the two discovered the contest on TV as yoing children, and Sigrit believes in two things: her love for Lars and that elves are real. Lars scoffs at the latter there.
As it is, the two, going by the name “Fire Saga,” are not exactly the best of performers. The pair are actually talented singers. They just suffer a lot of bad luck from other factors involving sets and costumes from the looks of things, and the fact Lars can’t stand being laughed at doesn’t help very much. But then, through what can only be described as a series of dumb luck events, Fire Saga finds itself going to represent Iceland at Eurovision. Can this pair of screw-ups at least acquit themselves well to if not win, then at least avoid embarrassment? And what does that flamboyant Russian pop star (Dan Stevens) want with Sigrit?
In many ways, Eurovision Song Contest plays like a standard Will Ferrell movie. He and McAdams work well together, there’s some fairly goofy humor and a bit of slapstick, and Lars is another variation on the standard Ferrell man-child character. Even some of Lars’s anti-American rants aimed at a reoccurring group of young tourists wouldn’t have sounded too out-of-place in some of Ferrell’s more politically-minded humor. That said, this isn’t the sort of dour, labored humor of many of Ferrell’s weaker works. Some of Ferrell’s work, like the aforementioned Holmes and Watson never know when to end a joke no matter how unfunny it is. That isn’t the case here, and like many of Ferrell’s better works, he often does well when paired with another actor who can keep up and add his or her own special twist. McAdams sure fits that bill, and it is nice to see a woman in that role for once.
That said, this isn’t one of Ferrell’s best. It seems a little too familiar at times, and quite frankly, I’ve always preferred Ferrell with McKay in the director’s chair, and Dobkin can’t quite meet the wacky level of absurd buffoonery that McKay was able to pull off so well before he decided to become a more serious filmmaker. Still, it sure is nice to see a good new comedy at a time when theaters are still closed and quality new releases seem to be few and far between.
Grade: B+
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