*I mean…whatever

IMDB Synopsis

Two small-town singers chase their pop star dreams at a global music competition, where scheming rivals, high stakes and onstage mishaps test their bond.

“Okay, so not as bad as we expected”

When you first see this preview and you have a few questions.

1. How much is Netflix paying Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams to do this.
2. What the hell is Eurovision?

Well Juicers Eurovision is basically European American Idol on steroids. It has representatives but different countries, and they put on the most absurd and over the top performances you have ever seen. So it seems like it would be perfect for a satirical treatment. Folks this is not the one though.

We have Lars (Ferrell) and Sigrit (McAdams) who are a band called Fire Saga, drowning away in their small town of Húsavík. They dream of getting into Eurovision, and after an explosion on a yacht kills all the viable contestants (yes you read that right) they get basically a pity spot into the contest. Of course things go awry once there, and they have to work together to become the best they can be.

This is Directed by David Dobkin who did Wedding Crashers, so it makes sense that Ferrell and McAdams would work for him again. However, it all just feels so lazy and none of the comedy really works outside of the villain esque character played by Dan Stevens. What did work for me was the actual satire of the contest and the sounds because all of that was extremely funny. It was very over the top but honestly if you watch some of the real performances, some of this was not far off. The rest though felt a lot like a bad SNL sketch.

Stock Watch

Stock Neutral – Will Ferrell

I already have his stock pretty low due to his most recent movies Holmes & Watson and Downhill, so this does not really push it lower. For my generation he was an all time comedy actor but it just feels like it is not happening anymore for him. I am glad he actually sang his role, it made him feel authentic, but other than that his character was a no from me.

Stock Down – Rachel McAdams

McAdams started off her career with three incredible roles with Mean Girls, The Notebook, and Wedding Crashers. Since then she has done some amazing roles since, but never truly became the star we thought she would. I felt she was making another good run with Spotlight, Doctor Strange and Game Night, but this role cancels all that out. Her accent was weird, she did not sing the role, and the chemistry with Ferrell was just off. This was a miss for her and I hope to see her in some better roles moving forward.

Stock Up – Dan Stevens

Stevens has been building quite the resume recently and does it again here basically stealing the movie. He is hilarious as the gay Russian singer Alexander Lemtov. He was hamming it up to the moon and made me wish on some level the movie was about his character.

*A couple other tidbits

• Everything Pierce Brosnan is doing as Will Ferrells dad is a mood.
• The Demi Lovato bit was very dumb.
• The main song that is the heartbeat of the climax actually is very good and completely feels like it belongs in a different movie.

At the end of the day this feels very much like a formulaic Netflix movie. Throw some money at a couple big stars, get them to go over the top, and make sure its an easy watch for the people watching on their couches. You will see every plot point coming a mile away, so just take it for what it is and enjoy the satire of it.

Juice Rating:

*You can find my 2020 Rankings here.

*You can find all of my Movie Ratings here.

*You can follow my Letterboxd account here.