Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Exploring every facet of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like ‘Eat It’ and ‘Like a Surgeon’ to his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle, this biopic takes audiences on a truly unbelievable journey through Yankovic’s life and career, from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
  • Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss, Julianne Nicholson, Quinta Brunson, 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Will Forte, Patton Oswalt, Michael McKean, Dot-Marie Jones, Jorma Taccone, Demetri Martin, Dean Sharpe, Paul F. Tompkins, Scott Aukerman, Akiva Schaffer, Conan O'Brien, Emo Philips, Nina West, Jack Black, David Dastmalchian, Julie Chang, Josh Groban, Seth Green, Arturo Castro, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Diedrich Bader, Richard Aaron Anderson, David Bloom, Thomas Lennon, Johnny Pemberton, Jonah Ray, Jeremy Bolm, Jack Lancaster, Spencer Treat Clark, Tommy O'Brien, Jacob Lawrence Kreiss, Keanush Tafreshi, Andrew Steven Hernandez, Paloma Esparza Rabinov, Eric Appel, Panuvat Anthony Nanakornpanom, Constantine Rousouli, James Brown III, Rocky Abou-Sakher, Chris Ryan, Mike Escamilla, Chad Guerrero, Cesar Ramirez, Omar Estrada, Cesar Chavira, Jimmy Walker Jr., Trenyce, James Preston Rogers, William Guirola
  • Director: Eric Appel
 Comments
  • gaubitzerlena - 17 June 2024
    A parody of the life of a parodist.
    The film "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story", written and produced by Al Yankovic and Eric Appel, is in many ways a parody of Al Yankovic's life and success, but it is also a parody of traditional biopics.

    The audience follows the musician's life from his childhood up to his fictional death.

    I say 'fictional' death because, although Al dies at the end of the film, in reality, he is still very much alive and contributed in the making of this movie. He narrates parts of the story and plays a small supporting role as 'Tony', head of a record label. The beginning of the film is fast paced, rapidly dealing with some important events from his childhood and teenage years, to quickly arriving in Al's adult life within the first 20 minutes of the movie. After that the movie simply consist of partially made-up origin stories to his songs, creating absurd, exaggerated storylines which challenge reality.

    Daniel Radcliffe, who portrays Weird Al as an adult, gives an incredible performance, perfectly executing the over-exaggerated dramatic elements and comedic aspects of the movie. It is obvious, though, that in the moments where Daniel is supposed to sing Weird Al's songs, he is lip-syncing to a track of Al Yankovic's actual voice. This might seem odd, but I believe that it is a conscious choice, because the movie often blurs the lines between reality, fiction, and absurdity. Quick cuts and dramatic lighting mimic the style of various biopics and also music videos, enhancing the parody effect.

    Another example for the creation of fictional narratives, apart from the obvious lip-syncing, is Weird Al's relationship with Madonna. In real-life he only briefly met the popstar, who is played by Evan Rachel Wood in the film, but in the movie, they are in a romantic relationship for some time. Even though I understand that the film was never aiming for accurate representation of anything or anyone in order to parody other biopics, I did not particularly enjoy the way in which Madonna was portrayed. She is unnecessarily depicted as arrogant, manipulative, and selfish by only dating Al to convince him to write a cover for her song 'Like a Virgin'. In general, it must be noted that there are only two female main characters, Madonna, and Al Yankovic's mother, and I doubt that this movie would pass the Bechdel test.

    All in all, I appreciate the comedic and untraditional approach to a biopic; it is definitely a refreshing diversion from all of the seriousness portrayed in other biographical feature films. Making the biopic a parody also perfectly aligns with Weird Al Yankovic's actual career, which is composing parody versions of popular songs. However, I do have to add, that the over-exaggerated, comedic elements become a bit annoying throughout the movie and I quickly lost interest as the pace changes.
  • lantern4444 - 6 April 2024
    A Great Parody of the King of Parody
    This movie is an absolutely brilliant parody of Weird Al Yankovic's life. Whilst semi-biographical it is essentially the most weird, bizarre and entertaining movie you can find. I love how you cannot predict how his life continually takes the most comically bizarre turns involving the most famous people imaginable. It is great fun to try and recognize and imagine his connection to these eclectically strange people.

    This is one of best comical parodies you will ever come across. The acting of Daniel Radcliffe is so brilliant you can actually imagine Weird Al Yankovic in front of you. This is definitely a fun movie that you must take the time to watch.