Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga – Could have been better/shorter

Damn-it, I really wanted to love this film.  I know that Will Ferrell has had a fair few ‘comedy misses’ of late, but I still think he’s one of the funniest comic actors around right now.  Then, take the Eurovision Song Contest (a genuinely – and some say deliberately – awful annual European talent show) which is ripe for parody and you really should come up with something a little better than the finished product.

I watched it on a streaming service and the moment it started I happened to spy the overall run-time – which is over two hours.  It was then that I had a funny feeling that the ‘funny’ wouldn’t manage to fill up that amount of time.  And I was right.

It’s about two small time Icelandic singers who dream of stardom at the Eurovision Song Contest (Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams).  They’re likeable enough and the film doesn’t fall flat in terms of characterisation and who you feel like rooting for.  The simple fact is that this film is just too long to support the idea.  There aren’t enough jokes to make it last as a comedy.

I guess if you’re being charitable you could say that there are elements of other genres thrown in there, namely romantic comedy, drama and – believe it or not – even supernatural bits.  However, these all seem to serve as redundant sub-plots which just distract from what should have been a far more focused little film.

I first heard about it via an online trailer.  It looked funny.  However, it’s basically one of those films where – if you only want to laugh – just watch the trailer as you’ll see all the best bits, i.e. jokes.  There’s too much ‘filler’ thrown in the actual movie, including a song and dance number about halfway through which goes on for about five minutes and, although technically competent in terms of music video making, could totally have been cut, as there’s nothing remotely humorous about it.

Of course there were jokes and amusing situations thrown in there.  I don’t want to sound too hard on it.  When it was funny it was great.  I just wish they’d have edited it down so the jokes came a little thicker and faster.

5/10 a hard trek, a bit like unicycling to Mordor and back