'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' Review
A silly parody of biopics that only Weird Al could pull off
It’s honestly miraculous “Weird” Al Yankovic wasn’t simply an amusing flash in the pan when he first burst on the scene back in the late 1970s with parodies like “My Bologna,” “Another One Rides the Bus,” and other food-related Michael Jackson hits. But nearly 40 years after the release of his self-titled album, the long, curly haired accordion player has sustained a successful career — selling tens of millions of albums with a flock of avid followers with (currently) more than 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone.
His longevity is even more impressive in a post-Vine, meme-infused, Tik Tok, short-attention-spanned, post-modern comedic landscape that dares anyone to stupid for a quick rush of dopamine (or perhaps dope-amine). Yet Weird Al has remained above the fray, especially politically, during an age when comedians are stand-ins for policy and/or ideological commentators (*cough cough* Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah *cough cough*). Political hackery has usurped the first goal of a comedian: being funny.
Meanwhile, in Hollywood, comedy films are a dying art as well — unless they are animated, an existing intellectual property or a sequel. For reference, the last highest-grossing comedy that failed to fit into any of those categories was Seth McFarlane’s Ted (2012).
Then in walks the Hawaiian-shirt clad Weird Al with his ultimate, most expensive parody yet — a self-deprecating movie poking fun at the biopic genre. Daniel Radcliffe stars as the ‘man’ himself or, at least, as an uncharacteristically self-serious version of Yankovic. Initially hesitant on the casting, Radcliffe is perfect as Weird Al. He plays the role with a tongue-in-cheek seriousness, which only makes the performance sillier. He appears so wrong for the part on paper — but that only makes Radcliffe so right.
The film has a similar whimsy to Weird Al’s other, cult-classic (and Fowler-family favorite) movie UHF and Tim Burton’s Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. What could have been an overstretched bit that plagues almost every SNL sketch, Weird Al and fellow screenwriter Eric Appel continuously up the ante, and even provide set-ups and pay-offs — so it’s runtime isn’t a drag. Quite the contrary, the movie packs enough jokes and Easter eggs to keep the audience engaged, even for those uninitiated to all of Weird Al’s antics over the years.
What could have also been a self-inflating exercise is the opposite. Oddly enough, the movie lacks an ego — Weird Al realizes he is, frankly, weird while exacerbating some actual truths in his life (such as Madonna requesting that he parody one of her songs, which reaches silly heights in the film). He is an oddity in the annals of popular culture history, and he pulls no punches at his own ‘life story’ and success. And he does so with such pleasantness.
So once again, through parody, Weird Al has created a fresh, lighthearted, funny comedy film that’s unique in today’s landscape. One hopes he sticks around, but, then again, if he continues to have a pulse on the room, there’s no doubt his legacy — and weirdness — will last.
Appendix
Weird Al’s music has been a mainstay in the Fowler family household for nearly all my life. I remember my siblings, neighbors and I blasting his ‘Running With Scissors’ album on a CD-player in the garage (while we tried to skateboard….). And ‘Poodle Hat’ and ‘Bad Hair Day’ were must-haves on any vacation road trip. Looking back, I even remember making my late Grammy listen to ‘The Night Santa Went Crazy’ and her giggling along to the song. The odd-polka playing artist (dare I say that?) has provided me with so many fun memories. And seriously, ‘UHF’ is a great, cult comedy film.
But Weird Al is best known for the music! So what are my favorite tunes? Here are some in no particular order:
Amish Paradise
White & Nerdy
The Night Santa Went Crazy
The Saga Begins
Albuquerque
Eat It
Fat
Why Does This Always Happen to Me?
Genius in France
Jurassic Park
I Remember Larry
Bob
Dare to Be Stupid
Trapped In the Drive-Thru