We (Sort of) Agree: Eurovision ...

2020, d. David Dobkin - netflix

A relatively harmless, but also toothless comedy centered around the Eurovision song competition. Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams play an Icelandic musical duo with a modicum of talent who, thanks to dumb luck and sinister intervention become the de facto entrants for Iceland in the competition. Having never left their small Icelandic town before, they go to Edinburgh where they meet other competitors and have their minds blown at the larger world around them (and yell at some dumb American tourists who they hate). 

There's room for some big comedy in all this but the film nobly takes great pains to not punch down at anyone (Americans excepted) and in trying not to offend it never goes very big. There's a slight absurdist fantasy streak that runs through the film (involving ghosts and elves) that may be the more bizarrely entertaining part of the film or may take you out of it altogether. Your mileage may vary.

There's a lot of accents on display. Ferrell's Icelandic is barely there and comes and goes, McAdams is pretty good most of the time, Pierce Brosnan (playing Ferrell's dad) is awful. There are a lot of Icelandic performers for comparison (a lot of familiar Game of Thrones faces), with the very shouty Johannes Haukur Johannesburg being the highlight. Dan Stevens plays the Russian superstar performer with utter delight, although (as my wife pointed out) with all the dance coordination he had to do on Legion it's a shame he didn't really dance at all here.

The film seems quite overlong at 123 minutes, and you really feel it by the halfway point. The second half clocks along at a brisk pace as the music starts talking hold. A lot of credit to the production for making a lot of genuinely plausible pop songs and really bringing down the house with the closing number. The only true voice to the main actors is Ferrell's (everyone else had amazing ringers) which provides a viable reason why Fire Song wouldn't be a favourite (Ferrell can sing, but, like, karaoke good, not pop star good).

I can't help but think had they not opted for the "Eurovision" branding how utterly silly this film could have gotten with all the international acts. I mean they could have hired regional comedic performers and musicians to create absurd pop music for a fake Eurovision effectively doubling the laughs (which, frankly, it could really use), but as it is it's a fairly earnest and kind of sweet movie.  The film actually seems to earnestly enjoy Eurovision and all its ridiculous pageantry and doesn't throw it under the bus.  It incorporates past winners in a ripoff of the sing-off we've seen in the Pitch Perfect films, so there's something both charming and tedious about it.  Kind of like the entire picture.