Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga Parent Guide

Lars (Will Ferrell) and Sigrit (Rachel McAdams) have dreamed of winning the Eurovision Song Contest since they saw ABBA performing “Waterloo” in the competition as children. But living in the small Icelandic town of Husavik, getting a musical career off the ground is harder than they would have imagined. Now middle-aged, they are still performing small gigs at bars and practicing in Lars’ father, Erick’s (Pierce Brosnan) house. When an unlikely series of events leads to the duo being selected to represent Iceland at Eurovision, Lars and Sigrit soon find that not everyone is eager to see them realize their dreams…

There is seldom any excuse for a comedy to run over 90 minutes, and this film barely merits the first 90. I can’t remember one joke in the entire runtime that led to so much as a change in facial expression, much less a laugh. I don’t think it’s just me, either. This is a movie seemingly without an audience – it feels like a bad Will Ferrell comedy from the early 2000’s. The ones that people said were “classics” at the time, but make you feel like putting your head in the washing machine should you be unfortunate enough to re-watch them.

That said, this seems to be a surprisingly sincere approach to the Eurovision contest itself. While Ferrell’s and McAdam’s characters are patently goofy, the contest is its usual strange self. I’m not a huge fan of the Euro-Pop style that seems fairly predominant in the soundtrack (with somewhat sillier lyrics), but it does seem to fit in with the contest. For comparison, you can click here to watch Iceland’s actual entry for the non-competitive 2020 Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light show (which replaced the competition scheduled for this year due to COVID-19). It’s not that far off.

But no amount of sincerity is going to make this watchable, let alone interesting. The plot is the kind of blandly predictable nonsense that could have been composed by a handful of over-medicated toddlers left unsupervised with a word processor and a basic understanding of film structure. Worse, the movie has a severe case of tonal whiplash, yo-yoing between dark, graphic violence, crude sexual humor, and very childish silliness. Those are not three flavors that mix well. Imagine Neapolitan ice-cream, but instead of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, you get root beer, mint, and mashed potatoes. There are easier ways to get the easy pop sound of Eurovision – like watching old competitions. That’s certainly preferably to sitting through this confused mess. Unless, of course, you’re just here for the “Greek” statuary sporting erections. In which case, please don’t sit near me.