Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Only Al Yankovic is deserving of a film this weird. Love him or hate him. Label him genius or gonzo; there is no disputing his fame. But even the most loyal of followers have never seen his full story told like this. Shocking, enlightening, awe inspiring, but most of all weird.
Premieres Globally on The Roku Channel on November 4, 2022
SYNOPSIS: Daniel Radcliffe is “Weird” Al Yankovic in the unexaggerated true story about the greatest musician of our time. From a conventional upbringing where playing the accordion was a sin, Al rebelled and made his dream of changing the words to world-renowned songs come true. An instant success and sex symbol, Al lives an excessive lifestyle and pursues an infamous romance that nearly destroys him. With Evan Rachel Wood and Rainn Wilson.
I will be the first to admit that I am not a fan of Al’s music. His parody genre though entertaining the first few times always seemed to rub the true music lover in me the wrong way. I found it campy and sophomoric. I congratulate him on his success for sure, but that is as far as I go. I was intrigued to watch this film though because I wanted to know why. Why the parody, why the accordion, why the hair? None of those questions were answered. But I laughed a lot.
Viewers on both sides of the fan base will have a good time with this one. It took me about 15-minutes to realize that what I was getting was a big dose of fact as weird as Weird Al. Daniel Radcliffe gets the honor of portraying Al in this film. Even in the most ludicrous of scenes Daniel delivers his part with genuine sincerity.
Parodies galore!
80’s Pop culture icons are everywhere. One particular scene which takes place at the home of Al’s mentor and manager Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson) is a fantastic game of “who do you recognize”. I will not give any away here only to say that they are wonderfully depicted.
I have to assume that the trajectory and basic events are true to form. Of course even Al Yankovic – who co-wrote and produced the film – could not have his story told without a bit of parody and outrageous fantasy.
Yes the music is here.
Fans of Al’s most famous songs will get a good dose of them here. Will you get a VH1 behind the scenes glimpse at their origin? Sure. Just go with it. Whether the inspirations are true or just live in the warped mind of AY no one knows but the owner. Regardless it is humorous to discover.
The offstage escapades.
What about all the rumors and headlines of the offstage antics? His love affair with pop super stars? His record breaking success? His overthrow of drug lords? It is all told in on fantastical moment after another. Even the most die hard fan will be amazed at what they didn’t know.
All joking aside, regardless how much of this is true – if any – when it comes to comedies and bio-pics you will be hard pressed to find one more entertaining than this. It is everything you want in a story about one of the weirdest guys ever to take the music stage. I might not run out and listen to the music now, but one thing is for sure, I am a much bigger fan of the man.
#Weird:TheAlYankovicStory
About The Author
