There’s plenty that’s weird about the career of “Weird” Al Yankovic, but is any of that weird enough for a movie about himself? First time feature director Eric Appel and Yankovic himself have teamed up to answer that question in the only way a “Weird” Al biopic could be done: by not having a shred of truth in it.
The film follows “Weird” Al Yankovic, played by Daniel Radcliffe (“Swiss Army Man,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”), as he catapults through the music industry with unprecedented fame and success, led by his childhood radio host hero Doctor Demento, played by Rainn Wilson (“The Office,” “Super”). Along the way he runs into the likes of Pablo Escobar, played by Arturo Castro (“Broad City,” “Narcos”), Oprah Winfrey, played by Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”), and his torrid love affair with Madonna, played by Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld,” “The Wrestler”), all while becoming the greatest musical artist of all time.
So that’s obviously not true. Al never dated Madonna and its also extremely likely he never was involved with Escobar in any way, but its all in the spirit of the film’s silliness. There’s virtually zero real life information here, instead taking the approach of something like “Walk Hard” or “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.” Everything is cranked to the eleventh degree, and the sheer number of coincidences and eye rolling moments are plentiful. But it’s all a part of the film’s sense of humor, and as a parody of the music biopic genre, it plays everything straight even when things become their most absurd.
However, the times when things are at their most absurd is far too little. While there are some truly genius gags, one involving “Eat It” that’s the film’s best, so much of the film’s comedy is just from playing the typical biopic clichés straight. These moments are funny and delivered well, but the film feels just remarkably tame for a movie about “Weird” Al. At no point do things get as weird as they did in Al’s other theatrical film “UHF” and that film came out 1989.
Despite that though, one of the film’s best aspects is Radcliffe. His post-Harry Potter career move continues to get better and better, and he’s delightful here. Each scene lets him get wackier and wackier, whether that’s by upping the machismo of this fictionalized version of Yankovic, overexaggerating the musical performances, or just by playing the material straight. Likewise, Wood is also perfect as a twisted version of Madonna. She has her sights set on fame and the sexiness of “Weird” Al and Wood’s performance is the perfect kind of committed silliness you’d want from a role like this.
Beyond the performances and the humor though, “Weird” is one of those movies that has this air of lightness and fun to it behind the scenes as well. Given the sheer number of comedians and cameos involved, not to mention the beloved status of Al in real life, this feels like the sort of project that everyone had fun making and most agreed to just to do it. It has an air of freshness to it all, giving the impression that these aren’t actors showing up to a job, but rather hanging out to make some jokes and pay tribute to one of their friends.
At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Because even if it could be weirder by “Weird” Al standards, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is still plenty of fun and lighthearted slice of 100 minutes. It might not be biting, and it might not change the industry, but its sweet and silly and kooky, everything a “Weird” Al parody work should be. 3.5/5
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