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Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
From the creative force of TV shows like New Girl and Brooklyn Nine Nine comes the definitive parody biopic about the definitive creator of musical parody. 2022's Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a star-studded movie parody of the movie biopic which is just the kind of thing we would expect from Weird Al...nothing in terms of reality, but providing solid comic entertainment for the majority of its running time.
This film is an alleged look at the famed song parody guru from his humble beginnings as the son of a factory worker to his creation of song parodies from already famous songs, which, as they appear in this film, seem to come from his head almost instantly, when we know this can't be further from the truth. Al's twisted rise to fame also includes a wild and passionate affair with Madonna and the murder of Pablo Escobar.
First of all, let's get this out of the way immediately. If you're looking for an actual look into the life of Weird Al, you've come to the wrong movie. As one would and should expect from the king of musical parody, this is a dead-on satire of the movie biopic, much in the tradition of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. In this instance, the star is a real person upon which a fictional and very funny story has been crafted. The underlying theme here, like in a lot of movie biopics, is the central character's troubled relationship with his father (nicely played by Toby Huss) that is the driving motivation behind everything that Al does in the movie.
The screenplay for this film did contain one brilliant plot twist that I didn't see coming at all. At the time that Al writes "Eat it", he claims that the song was not a parody and that he wrote the music and the lyrics. We then learn that Michael Jackson released a song called "Beat it" that he stole from Weird Al. Between this, the so-called passionate affair with Madonna (beautifully played by Evan Rachel Wood), who begs Al to do a parody of one her songs, and the varied atmospheres where Al's songs are created, there is so much clever stuff going on here.
Loved the variety in the presentation of the musical numbers as well: From "My Bologna" in his apartment with his roommates and eventual band members, to the supposed instant creation of "Another One Rides the Bus" at a party, to the onstage rendition of "Like a Surgeon", the musical sequences provide equal laughs. It should be noted that Daniel Radcliffe performed the songs as they were shooting the film, but Al's real voice was eventually dubbed in.
Radcliffe's energetic and passionate performance as Weird Al keeps the viewer invested in this story completely and he works very well with Wood as Madonna and Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento. Star gazers will have a ball as this film features appearances from Will Forte, Jack Black, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Conan O'Brien, Quinta Brunson, Michael McKean, Patton Oswalt, and Weird Al himself as a record producer. And that's Diedrich Bader as the Sam Elliott-fashioned narrator. It's not big on facts and the beginning of the final act sags a bit, but this movie was deliciously entertaining entertainment that kept me laughing out loud.
From the creative force of TV shows like New Girl and Brooklyn Nine Nine comes the definitive parody biopic about the definitive creator of musical parody. 2022's Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a star-studded movie parody of the movie biopic which is just the kind of thing we would expect from Weird Al...nothing in terms of reality, but providing solid comic entertainment for the majority of its running time.
This film is an alleged look at the famed song parody guru from his humble beginnings as the son of a factory worker to his creation of song parodies from already famous songs, which, as they appear in this film, seem to come from his head almost instantly, when we know this can't be further from the truth. Al's twisted rise to fame also includes a wild and passionate affair with Madonna and the murder of Pablo Escobar.
First of all, let's get this out of the way immediately. If you're looking for an actual look into the life of Weird Al, you've come to the wrong movie. As one would and should expect from the king of musical parody, this is a dead-on satire of the movie biopic, much in the tradition of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. In this instance, the star is a real person upon which a fictional and very funny story has been crafted. The underlying theme here, like in a lot of movie biopics, is the central character's troubled relationship with his father (nicely played by Toby Huss) that is the driving motivation behind everything that Al does in the movie.
The screenplay for this film did contain one brilliant plot twist that I didn't see coming at all. At the time that Al writes "Eat it", he claims that the song was not a parody and that he wrote the music and the lyrics. We then learn that Michael Jackson released a song called "Beat it" that he stole from Weird Al. Between this, the so-called passionate affair with Madonna (beautifully played by Evan Rachel Wood), who begs Al to do a parody of one her songs, and the varied atmospheres where Al's songs are created, there is so much clever stuff going on here.
Loved the variety in the presentation of the musical numbers as well: From "My Bologna" in his apartment with his roommates and eventual band members, to the supposed instant creation of "Another One Rides the Bus" at a party, to the onstage rendition of "Like a Surgeon", the musical sequences provide equal laughs. It should be noted that Daniel Radcliffe performed the songs as they were shooting the film, but Al's real voice was eventually dubbed in.
Radcliffe's energetic and passionate performance as Weird Al keeps the viewer invested in this story completely and he works very well with Wood as Madonna and Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento. Star gazers will have a ball as this film features appearances from Will Forte, Jack Black, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Conan O'Brien, Quinta Brunson, Michael McKean, Patton Oswalt, and Weird Al himself as a record producer. And that's Diedrich Bader as the Sam Elliott-fashioned narrator. It's not big on facts and the beginning of the final act sags a bit, but this movie was deliciously entertaining entertainment that kept me laughing out loud.