Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Like many people roughly my age, I grew up with "Weird Al" Yankovic. His oddball sense of humor always appealed to me as he continuously skewered Pop music. His music videos were always hilarious and on point. His first film, UHF, has garnered a devoted cult following. It was only natural that eventually his life would be depicted in his own bio-pic. In true Weird Al fashion, the resulting film is a hilarious satire of bio-pics.

As a young kid, Al (played by Daniel Radcliffe) developed an interest in the accordion only to be repeatedly discouraged from playing the instrument by his father, Nick (played by Toby Huss). Growing estranged from his parents as a result, he eventually moves in with his three friends, Steve (played by Spencer Treat Clark), Jay (played by Jack Lancaster) and Bermuda (played by Tommy O'Brien). After being rejected from yet another band not wanting an accordion player, he admits he just wants to make parodies of famous songs by changing the lyrics. Encouraging him, his friends turn on the radio while he fixes some sandwiches. As My Sharona by The Knack and immediately comes up with the song "My Bologna." They decide to record the song, settling on a nearby public bathroom due to the ideal acoustics. He sends in a copy to a local radio station where it gets played and becomes an instant success (literally the same afternoon he mails it). Soon, he's playing his first concert at a biker bar in front of a "Whiskey and heroin crowd" with his friends stepping in as his bandmates. He also attracts the attention of Dr. Demento (played by Rainn Wilson) who offers to mentor the up and coming musician. Soon enough, he's signed to the Scotti Bros. Record label and his first record goes multi-platinum. When it's discovered that sales go up for the original albums once Weird Al does a parody of one of the songs, Madonna (played by Evan Rachel Wood) starts courting Weird Al to do a parody of one of her songs, setting off a truly weird series of events for "Weird Al" Yankovic         

The film started out as a a mock trailer made for the site Funny or Die parodying the sort of Oscar Bait musician biopics that had been coming out. Based on the continued positive response to it, director Eric Appel and "Weird Al" Yankovic decided to expand it to a feature. As they watched the movies they were parodying and realized each one took plenty of dramatic license, they felt they could stray from real life as freely as they wanted, leading to some hilarious and unexpected turns in the film, especially in the second half of the film as Al begins drinking heavily, taking drugs, and becoming increasingly belligerent as his ego swings wildly out of control (all the funnier if you're familiar with Weird Al's history as a very clean cut musician whose career has been strangely free of controversy). The jokes come fast and often as it covers Al's life when he was a child through his rise to fame in the 80s. Aspects of Al's life are frequently exaggerated to great comedic effect even as the actors play the scenes deadly serious in the tradition of the best parodies. 

The film has a magnificent cast with Daniel Radcliffe nailing the lead role of "Weird Al" Yankovic. He plays the role with such deadpan serious in the face of such ridiculous events. Radcliffe really gives his all to the role even as the events around him grow more and more ridiculous. Rainn Wilson is a hoot in the role of Dr. Demento giving a very amusing performance as acts as something of a De-Mentor to Weird Al, although how good of an influence he proves to be is debatable. Evan Rachel Wood is clearly having a lot of fun playing Madonna, especially as the character becomes more exaggerated as the film goes on. Toby Huss does well satirizing the role of the disapproving and/or neglectful father that has itself become a well worn trope of these types of films. Much like the rest of the cast, he really nails playing the absurdity with deadly seriousness that makes the jokes land. The film also has a parade of cameos that I will not elaborate on because I don't want to ruin the surprises, but I have to say I enjoyed each one. 

Overall, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a hilarious satire of the music biopic genre, as well as offering a few kernels of truth about Weird Al himself even if the movie is 98% fiction. The majority of the jokes land with a talented cast that is 100% committed to the bit. The only downside of the movie is that because it is exclusively available on the Roku Channel, it is frequently interrupted by commercials. Here's hoping it eventually scores a Blu-Ray release as it is one I would love to add to my collection.