Year of Release: 2020
Director: David Dobkin
Starring: Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens, Pierce Brosnan, Mikael Persbrandt, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Joi Johansson, Demi Lovato, Jon Kortajarena, Elina Alminas, Graham Norton, Jamie Demetriou, Melissanthi Mahut
Genre: Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Synopsis and Review:
After the tepid response of "The Judge", director David Dobkin who made a name for himself as a director of successful comedies, such as "Wedding Crashers" and "Fred Claus", has gone back to the genre who made him a recognizable name in the industry. The film co-written by Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele, follows the story of Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdottir, a singing duo from Iceland who have known each other since children. Lars main ambition has always been to go to the Eurovision song contest, and win the competition, whereas Sigrit, mostly wants to write music, but adores Lars and wants to see him attain his dreams. Following a freak accident, where all the talent assembled to represent Iceland at the Eurovision gets killed in a boating accident (later revealed to be the result of murderous intent), Lars and Sigrit get selected, much to dismay of everyone, since their performance was marred with issues. When the duo arrives in Scotland for the competition, they immediately fall under the guise of Russian performer Alexander Lemtov, who wants Sigrit to abandon Lars and go on tour with him. Following yet another accident prone performance, Iceland somehow gets selected to go to the finals, but Lars envisioning defeat, goes back home, leaving Sigrit alone to defend their song. He has to find what his dream actually is, in order to pursue what he truly wants.
Unlike most Will Ferrell vehicles, "Eurovision..." feels somewhat tame in its approach to the institution that gives name to the feature. Whereas "Talladega Nights" and "Blades of Glory" built its satire by exaggerating the foundations of those activities/sports, exposing some of its slightly ridiculous traits, with Eurovision, the comedic opportunities are there, but the laughs sadly are not as frequent as they should be. And it feels mostly because the script doesn't really know where to take the story, the same way it doesn't really know if it should be focusing solely on Lars, or on Sigrit, leaving both their stories feeling underdeveloped, the same going for the supporting characters, who are introduced powerfully, but then squandered with very little to do (Dan Steven's Lemtov character has so much comedic potential). It's a film that has its moments, mostly due to the chemistry between Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, both of whom go all in on their performances, but the film lacks a bite, to be truly funny and memorable. It's non-offensive, but it had the potential and the talent to go so much further.
Unlike most Will Ferrell vehicles, "Eurovision..." feels somewhat tame in its approach to the institution that gives name to the feature. Whereas "Talladega Nights" and "Blades of Glory" built its satire by exaggerating the foundations of those activities/sports, exposing some of its slightly ridiculous traits, with Eurovision, the comedic opportunities are there, but the laughs sadly are not as frequent as they should be. And it feels mostly because the script doesn't really know where to take the story, the same way it doesn't really know if it should be focusing solely on Lars, or on Sigrit, leaving both their stories feeling underdeveloped, the same going for the supporting characters, who are introduced powerfully, but then squandered with very little to do (Dan Steven's Lemtov character has so much comedic potential). It's a film that has its moments, mostly due to the chemistry between Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, both of whom go all in on their performances, but the film lacks a bite, to be truly funny and memorable. It's non-offensive, but it had the potential and the talent to go so much further.
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