Fans of Will Ferrell, he’s not as over-the-top in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga as he is in other movies. Parents, he isn’t toned down enough to make Eurovision Song Contest kid friendly. So where does that leave the film? Basically it’s a Saturday Night Live skit gone on way too long. Here’s what parents need to know in this Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga Parents Guide.
Credit: John Wilson/NETFLIX
Even the title is a mouthful, and that sets the tone with what you’re about to watch. It’s just too much. Eurovision relies on a lot of crass humor to get by, and some people like that. I’m not one of them; it seems like lazy humor to me. Is Eurovision kid friendly? Eurovision Song Contest movie is rated PG-13 for crude sexual material including full nude sculptures, some violent images, and language.
Ferrell plays Lars Erickssong from Iceland, who has been dreaming of winning the Eurovision Song Contest since he saw ABBA win it when he was a young boy. He’s tired of people laughing at him, but his talent is not up to par with the usual Eurovision winners. Nobody believes in him except his partner in Fire Saga (their stage name), Sigrit Ericksdottir (Rachel McAdams), who is a wonderful singer, but perhaps is held back by Lars’s obsession with winning.
First they must win a spot representing Iceland against 11 other Icelandic contestants, but as fate would have it, an explosion kills all the other contestants thus leaving Fire Saga to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest’s semi-finals. Now is Lars’s chance to prove to his father (Pierce Brosnan) that he’s not a failure and hasn’t been wasting his life.
However, some contestants in the Eurovision song Contest like Russian pelvic thruster Alexander Lemtov (Dan Stevens) are driving a wedge between Fire Saga and could cost them the title and their dreams.
There is a bit of language in Eurovision with at least 12 uses of sh–, 3 g-ddamns, and one f-word. There is also a lot of talk about sex, ding dongs, and penises.
Naked statues a la David but with bigger packages and sexual humor are what cause this to be too mature for tweens. Some characters are in bed together, but nothing happens. There are also topics like death, family issues, and ghosts that are a little gross that come back with half a burnt face.
I would recommend Eurovision Song Contest for teens ages 14 and up due to the sexual humor.
Eurovision had potential. The acting wasn’t all bad. Rachel McAdams is always a treasure, and her Icelandic innocence reminded me a bit of Rose from The Golden Girls, but without the writing she deserved. Eurovision relies too much on penis and crotch jokes. I get it. Some people find that funny, but let’s move on. One can only handle so many penis jokes.
I couldn’t tell if this was a parody or an homage to the Eurovision Song Contest, and unfortunately the more heartwarming components of the story got lost under some of the cheap jokes. Some of the stereotypes are just so bad. When I did laugh, it was the subtlety and acting chops of some of the veterans in this cast.
There will be an audience that will love this film and normally I root for the movies that tell you to chase your dreams, but Eurovision Song Contest fell flat for me.
