When I first heard about Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, I honestly thought it was a joke to counter the Elvis movie that was coming out. Now having seen it, I’m glad it was no joke. This movie balances being both serious and comedic as well as any parody movie should, which should be no shock given that the inspiration is the King of Parody Music himself. This movie is outrageous right off the bat and it never relents, whether it’s when his father beats up a traveling accordion salesman or when the police bust a polka party. What I love the most is you can tell that Al crafted his story in his own vision true to himself, not having to sacrifice events or tone for studio approval.
This is all before we even get to meet the star: Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al. Radcliffe is so believable as a whacky, quirky individual who has dreams for the big stage with a mind that sees no limits. The supporting cast and side characters round out the movie perfectly and sell this story as being as un-seriously serious as it is. Rainn Wilson is a great mentor to Radcliffe like Burt Reynolds was to Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights. It is funny too since I made the Elvis movie comparison and the stark contrast between Tom Hanks and Rainn Wilson is glaring as the “founders” of Elvis and Weird Al respectively.
With most biopics, I always struggle to differentiate what’s real and what is “creative liberty” and here is no different. Al’s descent into his own ego isn’t fun to watch and isn’t that believable, which might be expecting too much from this satirical film. What isn’t my fault is the run time. This movie is only 108 minutes long and I don’t think it had the legs to fill even that anemic runtime out. This “biopic” has a section where Madonna gets kidnapped by Pablo Escobar’s men because he wouldn’t sing on his birthday and Al has to go save her like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Such a weird move for a weird movie but that’s what I should’ve expected in a movie like this.
Final Thoughts
I can’t end this review without praising Radcliffe’s performance. Even though he wasn’t singing he was 10 toes into the character, and he really elevates this film, through all the highs and lows. The movie definitely takes swings and although it has some misses, this was a fun watch with good emotional and comedic moments, the music was fun, and all the performances were great.
