Will Ferrell Heads To Netflix

By Mark

As more and more writers, directors and actors head to Netflix, Will Ferrell has decided to join them taking up writing and producing duties for “Eurovision”.

Now, the word Eurovision, has mixed connotations for a lot of people in Europe, and now strangely Australia. For some, the Eurovision Song Contest, the longest running annual international TV song competition, is an absolute joy.

People throw Eurovision parties, some travel thousands of miles to attend the contest in whichever country previously won, some attend huge gatherings in their native countries.

For others however, Eurovision evening is an excuse to do anything other than watch TV. For many years in the UK the broadcast was commentated on by the late Sir Terry Wogan who, I think it’s fair to say, did so with a huge amount of incredulity and sarcasm at some of the more bizarre entrants from countries.

Then there is the voting system, which for many years, was done by secretive panels in the respective countries, and is the most political thing you’ll ever witness. Which is why a country like the UK hasn’t won it since 1997 (with Katrina And The Waves if you’re interested), despite most of the money for the production coming from the UK’s British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (that and some of the entrants haven’t been great I imagine).

It is not a stretch to say that, for many around the world, they simply couldn’t care less about Eurovision with many purely watching it for a reason to live tweet their sarcasm and poke fun at the various entrants.

It’s not a surprise that someone wants to write a film about this bizarre spectacle, perhaps what is surprising is that it’s a bunch of Americans who have decided to have a go. Even more so that it’s the less than subtle Will Ferrell writing alongside Andrew Steele whose previous credits don’t fill you with hope for “Eurovision” seeing as he wrote “Casa de mi Padre”.

Directing duties will go to David Dobkin who directs a lot of Maroon 5 videos, for some reason, as well as bringing us “The Wedding Crashers”, “Fred Claus” and “The Judge”. The man who wrote Vice and The Big Short, Adam McKay, will act as executive producer.

Ferrell may be well loved in America, still regularly appearing on Saturday Night Live, but the rest of the world have to contend with output such as “Holmes And Watson” or “Daddy’s Home”.

Personally, I’m not holding my breath for “Eurovision” to be anything other than eye-rollingly bad, as a man in his fifties does more fart and nob gags with painful slapstick. Still, I’m more than happy to be proved wrong.

Originally published at www.ocmoviereviews.com on March 7, 2019.