One of Ferrel's best in years

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2020)

I didn't expect much from this film honestly, some laughs and 1.5 hours of entertainment was all I asked. After Holmes and Watson (which my kids and I have not been able to make it more than 25 minutes into) I felt that was the best I could do.
But, this movie surprised. Sure, it opens with Ferrel playing his typical idiot man child, but it goes beyond that to an honestly sincere and inspirational story. The performances are all great, the characters display some depth despite appearing perhaps 1 dimensional at first, and the music is phenomenal (honestly, have been falling asleep the past few nights with songs stuck in my head). The final song (my home town) honestly gives me chills just listening to it.
I'm not a big eurovision fan, I know vaguely of it and have seen some acts from time to time, but that didn't make this less enjoyable. It's not the best movie of course, it still has moments of crude humor (admittedly hilarious at times), but it's beautifully shot and well acted and overall an enjoyable romantic comedy.
It's unfortunate that it was released during a worldwide viral pandemic, as I think this film would do an amazing job for Icelandic tourism otherwise (and I'm sure their contributions to production costs were certainly hoping for this).