WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY |
★★★★☆
22 November 2022
A movie review of WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY.
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Director: Eric Appel.
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Arturo Castro, Julianne Nicholson, Will Forte, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Toby Huss, Weird Al Yankovic, Spencer Treat Clark, Patton Oswalt, Quinta Brunson, Jorma Taccone, Michael McKean, David Dastmalchian, Conan O'Brien, Jack Black.
“What you are doing is unfunny and evil,” Nick (Toby Huss)
Daniel Radcliffe turned into an exciting thesp with two movies: JUNGLE (2017) and GUNS AKIMBO (2019). The former has Radcliffe’s character put through the mill. Watching Harry Potter being mangled by nature is doubly unpleasant. In the latter, with firearms forcibly attached to his hands, Radcliffe’s lead at one point gets so famished that he eats a hotdog that has rolled over a used condom. Few scenes induce simultaneously a retch and a guffaw. WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY is the third movie that can be added to Radcliffe’s achievements.
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Arturo Castro, Julianne Nicholson, Will Forte, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Toby Huss, Weird Al Yankovic, Spencer Treat Clark, Patton Oswalt, Quinta Brunson, Jorma Taccone, Michael McKean, David Dastmalchian, Conan O'Brien, Jack Black.
“What you are doing is unfunny and evil,” Nick (Toby Huss)
Daniel Radcliffe turned into an exciting thesp with two movies: JUNGLE (2017) and GUNS AKIMBO (2019). The former has Radcliffe’s character put through the mill. Watching Harry Potter being mangled by nature is doubly unpleasant. In the latter, with firearms forcibly attached to his hands, Radcliffe’s lead at one point gets so famished that he eats a hotdog that has rolled over a used condom. Few scenes induce simultaneously a retch and a guffaw. WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY is the third movie that can be added to Radcliffe’s achievements.
This is a comedy biopic spoof that almost turns randomness into an artform. In less skilled hands the plotting would be a continuous run of non sequiturs, yet here feels organic. The kitchen sink is heaved at the audience, and it is welcome. In the haphazard melee of hilarious lines, performances, and sequences, WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY skewers the biopic genre, in particular the music biog, with merciless glee. The trite formulas and story/character arcs are lampooned. WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY (2007) walked, so WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY could run. This movie has the relentless energy of an action movie.
Comparing recent metafiction comedy, THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT (2022), Nic Cage could have benefitted from the creative team here. Though, of course, will any film ever surpass Jean-Claude Van-Damme’s JCVD (2008)?! Beyond the winks and nods, WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY also sends up the high school coming of age subgenre. Wait till you get to the illicit polka party. You could even argue STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015) is ridiculed. Rey (Daisy Ridley) without hard work or training suddenly becomes a Jedi master. Here, Weird Al goes immediately stratospheric just after he and his pals talk about diligence and luck. Plus, THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010) gets a nod – The Facebook to Facebook, Al Yankovic to Weird Al Yankovic.
Cameos. Bring me lots of cameos. What I desired was answered. Why does Lin-Manuel Miranda crop up as a doctor? Er, he is a composer and so is the subject? Who knows? The arbitrariness adds to the humour of that scene. The cameos don’t feel phoned in. Effort is on display. Witness Will Forte’s bruising monologue. Rainn Wilson’s mentor is a reminder of how cringe Al Yankovic might have been. The swimming pool party scene harks back to BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997). Jack Black and Jorma Taccone make an appearance at the shindig. Respectively, their Tenacious D and The Lonely Island comedy bands could be argued to be descendants of Weird Al Yankovic. (By the way, if you ever saw British TV show STELLA STREET (1997-2001), the scene reminds of the intentional sh*ttness of the celeb spoofs.)
Casting has the air of thought. Spencer Treat Clark crops up as a bandmate. He was a child star in GLADIATOR (2000). Joseph Mazzello played John Deacon in BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (2018) and was a child star in JURASSIC PARK (1993). The attention to detail and layering of movie commentary is to be applauded. (Oh, and John Deacon crops up here too, played David Dastmalchian.)
The ending isn’t perfect, but what goes beforehand makes it forgivable. With co-writer, actor, and producer hats on, this film shows how Al Yankovic is still funny.