Weird: The Al Yankovic Story finally tells the lurid and scandalous tale of arguably the most famous accordion player in an extremely specific genre of music. That genre: song parody. That accordion player: “Weird” Al Yankovic.
Known for his brilliant parodies of popular songs, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story tells the 100-percent-true, definitely-not-made-up-or-embellished story of the curly-haired, mustachioed maestro, from his highest highs as the world’s best-selling artist of all time, to his lowest lows in the jungles of Colombia, where he had to save his then-girlfriend Madonna from drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. Yes, Weird is the behind-the-scenes, unfiltered true story of everybody’s favorite Hawaiian shirt-wearing troubadour.
All joking aside, Weird may seem weird at first, but it’s kind of the perfect movie about a guy who made his name and fortune doing parody. Like Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, it’s a perfect parody of every self-serious music biopic out there; Weird is the filmic version of what Al Yankovic has been doing with song his entire life. From the abusive father whose checkered past makes him intolerant of “Satan’s squeeze box,” to Al’s rise and subsequent fall to substance abuse, nothing in Weird seems true to life save for the songs: “My Bologna,” “Another One Rides the Bus,” “I Love Rocky Road” and so on.
Daniel Radcliffe is great as Al Yankovic, but his casting isn’t just because he’s great, or looks like Al (I doubt “Weird” Al was ever that ripped), but also a sneaky meta joke on the casting of biopics. As well as playing Al, Radcliffe is playing the Oscar-chasing actor, the mega-star thirsting for artistic integrity by “taking a risky role,” and “inhabiting a person’s life, troubles and all,” when, in reality, they, like Radcliffe, are just doing a fair to good impression of a famous person.
Evan Rachel Wood likewise gives an over-the-top performance as Madonna, or rather, the idea of Madonna were she the villain in a serious biopic. And as a Funny or Die production, and directed by UCB alum Eric Appel, the film is chock-full of fun and funny cameos, with subject and co-writer Weird Al himself playing a smarmy record executive.
Yes, Weird is a weird movie, one that eluded and exceeded any expectations I might have had. But in hindsight, it should have been obvious—the man made famous for his song parodies (possibly the only truly famous song parodist) has made a movie parody. And as the parody genre has all but died out, becoming even more niche, Weird Al has proven once again that he is the best . . . well, perhaps not technically the best, but arguably the most famous film cowriter in an extremely specific genre of film.
