There is an extremely rare time when an actor is born to play a role. No matter what actors had done it in the past or will land the part in the future; that role belonged to that one actor. English actor Daniel Radcliffe achieved that status. I’m not talking about him playing Harry Potter in 8 blockbuster films. Let’s face the hard truth: Any cute English kid with glasses and a dueling scar on their forehead could have played Harry Potter. But only Daniel Radcliffe could be Weird Al Yankovic. Why? Al isn’t nearly as muscular, charming and British as Radcliffe. Why is the actor perfect for playing the accordion playing King of Parody Pop? Because Radcliffe is the presence Weird Al exudes on stage. When Radcliffe straps on Al’s accordion and squeezes out “I Love Rocky Road,” you feel that he’s doing more than wearing a Hawaiian shirt, a fuzzy wig and a bushy mustache to mimic Al. He doesn’t merely play Al. Radcliffe is Al’s spirit animal in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
You might have thought you knew all about Al Yankovic since the first time Dr. Demento called him Weird Al on his national radio show at the end of the ’70s. You bought his albums. You taped his Al TV segments on MTV. You cheered as he won Grammy Awards at a ceremony before the broadcast. You’ve lost your voice singing along with him at concerts. You own UHF on Blu-ray. But do you really know what he went through to be an international superstar. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story gives us the story we never knew in a biopic that lets us in on the “Weird” truth.
Al Yankovic grew up with a taskmaster father (Halt and Catch Fire‘s Toby Huss) and a nervous mother (Mare of Easttown‘s Julianne Nicholson). When a travelling accordion salesman (Reno 911‘s Thomas Lennon) knocks on the Yankovics’ door, Dad loses his temper and beats the guy into a bloody pulp. Mom buys her son a squeezebox, but he must hide it from dad. This proves to be difficult. One night the cops bring Al home after they raid an outlaw teenage polka party. His dad disowns him. But it doesn’t both Al too much as he runs off to college. While at school and living with three roomies, he dreams of joining a rock band. Nobody wants an accordion to solo instead of their guitars. Instead of getting depressed, the plucky young Al gets inspired to turn the Knack’s My Sharona into a parody called “My Bologna.” He records the song and it gets immediate airplay on the radio. This instant success sends him to Scotti Brothers records where the label owners (UHF‘s Al Yankovic and MacGruber‘s Will Forte) aren’t feeling it. His instant success feels like a flash in the pan. The roommates talk Al into performing a live concert, but they need more material. That’s when he comes up with “I Love Rocky Road.” The crowd goes wild for Al and ice cream. This is the night that Dr. Demento (The Office‘s Rainn Wilson) shows up in his life. The radio host with the top hat takes him under his wing, changes his name to Weird Al Yankovic and shows him the star-studded life that awaits. A pool party filled with celebrities leads to him getting challenged to write a parody of his Queen Song, “Another One Bites the Dust.” Al could have bailed, but squeezes out “Another One Rides The Bus.” The world goes nuts for Al. Even Pablo Escobar loves Weird Al. Things get extremely wild when after being dosed, Al writes an original song called “Eat It.” The song is a smash until Michael Jackson does a parody called “Beat It.” Al’s life goes out of control when Madonna (West World‘s Evan Rachel Wood) arrives at his door wanting to be his girlfriend and create a parody of “Like A Virgin.” He wants to only do original material. But will the Material Girl destroy Weird Al Yankovic? The surprising answer is “Yes!”
The film is packed with star power including Jack Black, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Scott Aukerman, Dot-Marie Jones, Conan O’Brien, Nina West, David Dastmalchian, Paul F. Tompkins, Demetri Martin, Emo Philips, Patton Oswalt, Michael McKean and Josh Groban. Daniel Radcliffe shines as brightly as Al’s Hawaiian shirts. This could have easily felt like a Saturday Night Live sketch that overstayed it’s welcome at the 3 second mark. Radcliffe keeps it an amazing journey. His performance is so powerful, I begin to doubt my real memories of meeting Weird Al over the decades. Did Daniel Radcliffe really sign Weird Al’s kid’s book to me?
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is the greatest musical biopic ever made. Who knew that being a genius at parodying a song could be so dangerous? Weird Al did. This film has quite a bit of fun with not merely the usual elements found in a Behind the Music biopic, but the ’80s in general. The torrid romance between Madonna and Weird Al just feels like it had to happen. There were no bigger stars in the ’80s than Weird Al and Madonna. Why wouldn’t they be together? And why wouldn’t they get tangled with Pablo Escobar? The shocking finale will have you in tears. I won’t say if it is tears of sadness or laughter. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story will make you believe that a dream and an accordion can make you a superstar.
The Video is 2.39:1 anamorphic. You get to see Weird Al’s life in widescreen and 4K UHD HDR. You’ll see his Hawaiian shirts so vividly. The Audio is Dolby Atmos 7.1 and 5.1 DTS-HD MA surround. There’s also a 2.0 Stereo DTS-HD MA. This points you at the heart of Weird Al’s movie.
Blu-ray has the movie and bonus features.
Audio Commentary with Al Yankovic And Director Eric Appel lets them elaborate on the truth in his life. They point out that Toby Huss did a series of MTV promos in the ’90s. Al does explain that his parents were very nurturing and understanding, but nobody would buy that in a biopic. He did buy his first accordion from a door-to-door salesman. Al’s dad didn’t beat the guy to a pulp. He does fill in the truth of scenes including recording in a public restroom.
Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes (24:39) is hosted By Al Yankovic And Eric Appel. They explain how working on a low budget, they did their major cutting during the script phase. But they have quite a few scenes that didn’t match the truthful tone. We get the family dinner where dad talks about the death at the factory and mom finds a Hawaiian shirt hidden in Al’s bed. Toby Huss is amazing in this grizzly monologue. There’s more Scotti Brothers. We get a lot more cameos at the pool party, the complete Oprah interview and “Like a Surgeon” performance.
Movie Promos (1:54) is from when the movie streamed on Roku. Al wants you to get the channel. Also included is Al’s intro for the Savannah Film Festival.
Featurette On The Making Of Weird (3:57) has cast and crew swear this is an extremely serious biopic.
Late Night With Seth Meyers (10:18) has the interview with “Weird Al” Yankovic And Daniel Radcliffe. You can’t tell them apart. Seth shows off people dressed as Weird Al for Halloween. They discuss the cameos in the film.
IMDb.com “A Plethora Of Cameos” (2:07) has Weird Al, Eric Appel and Rainn Wilson breakdown the scene and the cast. Amazing who showed up for the pool party. Mark Hamill couldn’t make it.
Variety.com Interview (7:59) with Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood and Eric Appel at The Toronto International Film Festival. Evan Rachel Wood points out that when she dressed up as Madonna, she was treated like Madonna. She even gives us her tip for how she got into delivering lines like Madonna did in the early ’80s.
TheWrap.com Interview (3:52) with “Weird Al” Yankovic and Eric Appel. We see Al with a mustache. They had done a trailer for Funny Or Die nearly a decade before. It was time to make it a real biopic movie that isn’t really Weird Al’s biopic. He does explain how Madonna wanted him to parody “Like A Virgin.”
Lyric Video – “Now You Know” (5:21) is the end credit song with the words on cool Weird Al Hawaiian shirt patterns.
Trailers include the Teaser (1:03) and the full-length trailer (2:52). Both promise to give us the truth about Weird Al.
Shout! Studios present Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Directed by Eric Appel & Al Yankovic. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Toby Huss, Rainn Wilson and Al Yankovic. Running Time: 108 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: December 12, 2023.
