We need the laughs! A full trailer for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, the tortuously named Netflix film starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams is here, and it is a bright spot on my otherwise horrific Twitter feed right now. JK Rowling is ruining Harry Potter, people are fighting over Confederate flags at NASCAR races, Donald Trump is still president, the celebs are at it again—WE NEED THIS, WE NEED THIS NOW. I need a f-cking break, and a movie about Eurovision seems like just the ticket. The teaser was promising, the trailer even more so. Give it to me now.gif!
The teaser just featuring the song “Volcano Man” gave me Pitch Perfect vibes, but this trailer is actually making me think more of Zoolander. It’s in the way Pierce Brosnan shakes his head at his large adult son, played by Will Ferrell. That has shades of Jon Voight and “Mer-MAN!”. Also, Fire Saga is a movie set in a highly specific, visually aggressive world, not unlike Zoolander and the world of male modeling. I’m just not going to be mad at a movie that seems like Pitch Perfect crossed with Zoolander, especially not right now when everything is so f-cking bleak.
Also, it does not look like Fire Saga is making fun of Eurovision, or Iceland, itself. All the jokes in the trailer are definitely on Lars (Ferrell) and Sigrit (McAdams). And the idea of a country being forced to send a band they hate to Eurovision is a solid one, and ensures the punchlines stay firmly on the fictional characters. This is what I am looking for—real affection for the event itself, while still mining its inherent goofiness for laughs. Making a movie about an unpopular local band going to Eurovision seems like a path to that outcome. And casting Dan Stevens as a sleazy…Swedish?...pop singer is BRILLIANT. His comedy chops are underappreciated, but they are there (his timing and delivery in The Guest is, well, killer), and it’s good to see someone finally acknowledge that. Dan Stevens has the best career post-Downton Abbey: discuss.
