Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga
Pupule rating: 3.3 (out of 4)
Netflix
It's only a few minutes into Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga when one fact becomes clear. Rachel McAdams is loyal. A lot of women would have walked away after a few decades of waiting for their BFF to propose, let alone tie the knot. But in this world, he is wedded to his dream of winning the Eurovision contest, which is an actual event running well over six decades.
Will Ferrell plays his part to the tee. Partly kooky. Partly sentimental. One-hundred percent committed physically — he sings all the lyrics of his part — as a middle-aged man who can't get any love from dad (Pierce Brosnan).But it's McAdams who wows from start to finish. She can be dorky and play that to the hilt with Ferrell. She's a schoolteacher who has everyone in their small village wondering why she sticks around with him.
This is clean enough, almost, to be a Nickelodeon feature. But I was shocked by the way they gripped my emotions. My favorite movies of all time include The Godfather I and The Godfather II, even Midnight Run. For the most part, my favorites are violent, crusty and laden with excess, vulgar language. But McAdams' loyalty and tenderness belied her toughness and intelligence. When the finale begins and she pours out the lyrics of her ballad, everything else melts.
Post-flick, I learned that she sang that song 100 percent, and partially sang the other tunes. Nice, but not a factor. This is a "light-headed comedy" on paper, but through some of the mundane stuff, there's enough odd humor (murderous elves?) to keep this paddling forward. And yes, her pinpoint tugging at emotions, mine at least, made this an unexpectedly intense watch.
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