Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

(Roku Streaming, November 2022) I can’t think of many musical artists for whom I’d go through the trouble of digging out and setting up my old Roku box to watch their biopic on release day. But Weird Al Yankovic? Ah, now that’s a different story: His early heyday coincided with my high-school years, so it makes sense that I can sing along with most of 1993’s Alapalooza, was an early purchaser of UHF on DVD (“Supplies!”) and can still recall a good chunk of his filmography. I admit losing track of Yankovic’s work throughout the 2000s, but then again Yankovic himself became a different musician during this period: fewer studio releases, more touring. He’s now an elder statesman of music/comedy: His latest album was 2014’s Mandatory Fun, and he has since focused on live shows. His personal life is refreshingly devoid of scandal, and his wholesome image remains, well, untarnished. Considering that much of his success rests on pure parody, it’s not that much of a surprise if biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story ends up being a thorough sendup of the biopic genre that creates its own alternate universe. Basic elements of his biography are spun in tall tales through big (if limited budget) Hollywood-style sequences, following the trace left by much more serious films. (Casting about for the closest equivalent, you either end up with Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, or the Leslie Nielsen “autobiography” The Naked Truth.)  While much of the film is steadily amusing, I wouldn’t necessarily call it funny: the laugh-out-loud jokes are few, and the film prefers to exist on a weird uncanny plane of mockery. Still, it’s worth a look—there’s a brilliant parody/recreation of Boogie Nights’ pool party with dozens of zonked-out cameos of known people playing other known people, the shift of inspiration between “Eat It” and “Beat It” is eye-rollingly endearing, and Daniel Radcliffe is much, much better than anyone would expect playing Yankovic. (Similarly, Evan Rachel Wood is lovely as Madonna, and Rainn Wilson makes an excellent Dr. Demento.)  The music, much of it rearranged for the occasion, is catchy, and the ending will catch everyone by surprise—even if I found one aspect of it a touch too violent when compared to the singer’s family-friendly image. I’m not sure I’d call Weird a great movie—its lulls become more noticeable in time, and as mentioned, it’s trying for zany rather than hilarious—but I certainly enjoyed it and don’t begrudge the added hoops I had to go through in order to watch it.