A couple of hours of pure, silly escapism

Rating: 7/10 (2 July 2020)

Is this movie cheesy? With some plot holes? Yes and yes.
Did it offer me and my family a couple of wonderfully silly hours with laughs, cringes and the sort of songs that only Eurovision can offer? Yes, yes and yes!
Will Ferrell (whom I'm not normally a fan of) was great as the Eurovision-obsessed Lars, Rachel McAdam was sweet as the talented but naive Sigrit, and Dan Stevens was a revelation as Alex, the '100% not gay' Russian. I know neither Rachel nor Dan sang their own songs, but it was pretty good lip-synching!
With minimal bad language, no violence (apart from the hamster wheel and the baddy getting knifed by the elves) and no nudity (though there were a few slightly risqué references to Will Farrell's 'ding dong'), this was a film we could enjoy as a family and came away joyfully singing 'Ja Ja Ding Dong' (which my daughter (unsuccessfully) tried to put on my phone as a ringtone).
Ignore the critics. If you approach this in the same way as you would Eurovision itself, you'll have a blast.