By: Keaton Marcus

You may be thinking: "oh no...Another Will Ferrell film?" However, David Dobkin's new Netflix comedy Eurovision Song Contest: Story of Fire Saga has some truly inspired and laugh-out-loud worthy moments, despite never taking full advantage of its premise. Ferrell is fantastic with his co-star, Rachel McAdams, and there's a lot of things to enjoy here. Perhaps enough to forgive the overlong running time of just over two hours. Some sequences drag on far too long, and the movie doesn't score enough laughs in several moments, but overall, you'll have a fun time with it. It's also some of Ferrell's best work in a good while, and that's truly something. I haven't laughed so much in one of his movies for a long time, so I give Dobkin credit for that at least. That is not to say that this is up with the greats of the genre. But for a light flick easy to watch for free, you could do a lot worse.

The movie is about aspiring singer Lars (Will Ferrell). And his partner Sigrit (Rachel McAdams) who both dreams to win the Eurovision Song Contest for Iceland. When by chance they claim a place to go to the auditions for the contest, their performance is disastrous. However, when a mysterious explosion occurs and kills all of the contestants, they are put into the contest. Now in Ireland for Eurovision, the two must compete against the best artists in the world. The plot, of course, is gloriously dumb. And just what it needs to be to make this film so darn entertaining. Don't look for anything remotely smart, however.

As mentioned, A-lister Will Ferrell leads the cast, and his performance is nothing less than marvelous. Who knew Mr. Ferrell over here had an excellent singing voice? The person who played the hell out of President Business in The Lego Movie can actually strum up a tune? Well, this guy certainly can, and even if he single-handedly ruined the Sherlock Holmes universe...I forgive him. This is also a worthy comeback for the actor, who was floundering after his last three movies: Daddy's Home 2, Holmes & Watson and Downhill, actually has a decent flick! Rachel McAdams also has a surprisingly beautiful voice, and as we all know, is a hilarious actress when she's given the right script. The cast is the best part of the movie, and that's alright for me.

Director David Dobkin has been a mixed bag his whole career, and he got famous because of his 2005 sleeper-hit Wedding Crashers. However, he's rarely been a great director, with his other big films being Shanghai Knights, Fred Claus, The Change-Up, and RIPD. My point is that while he isn't great, he knows how to make a funny movie, some of the time. Eurovision Song Contest is most obviously a hilarious film that is undermined by bloated run time. But there are enough flashy singing sequences to make you dance more than Mamma Mia! or High School Musical, so that should be enough. And who doesn't want to see Ferrell do an Icelandic accent?

The final opinion is: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is undermined by its overlong running time, but Will Ferrell's lead performance and an abundance of laughs keep it afloat...$TREAM IT

WATCH ON NETFLIX

Rated: PG-13 (for crude sexual material including full nude sculptures, some comic violent images, and language)

Genre: Comedy

Runtime: 2 hours 1 minute

Directed By: David Dobkin