'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' A Review

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a biopic parody about the titular musical parody artist. As a kid Al listens to Dr. Demento and gets interested in parody songs, his factory working father(Toby Huss) is aggressive and dismissive of his son's ambitions but his mother(Julianne Nicholson) secretly gets him an accordion. At a high school party Al lets loose and plays stunning and thrilling his peers only to return home and have his dad destroy his beloved instrument sending him out on his own. Sometime later Al(Daniel Radcliffe) lives with three buds and writes "My Bologna" launching his career.

Radcliffe, once again proving himself the most intriguing Potter graduate, brings a necessary iron-clad commitment to the absurdist story. He sells it and he's clearly having a ball. He scores the comedic crescendos and bizarre tangents as well as the pockets of real heart that populate the movie. It's impressive, from being one of the more bland HP kids he's grown into an eclectic talent. He dominates here, just absolutely off the leash, raw, funny, and explosive. Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna is also wonderful, she plays this skewed version of the pop princesses with a delicious avarice, an almost Bond villain level of relish. The two have great chemistry and effectively ground the increasingly preposterous plot developments. The supporting cast is stacked- Huss is always a knockout and this allows him to do what he does best- broad comedy with an unshakable commitment- Rainn Wilson is a much needed breezy compassionate presence, former child star Spencer Treat Clark(of Unbreakable fame) is great as one of Al's buds/band mates, Quinta Brunson shows up briefly as Oprah- it's all just so playful but commitment and bizarre. 

Clearly on a limited budget it still looks great. Solid locations/set design, pitch perfect period costuming, a great soundtrack(obviously and correctly mostly Weird Al tunes). It all just works. More so than the questionable cult hit Walk Hard it functions both as an effective(if fictitious) biopic as well as a send-up of the genre. There's just so much life to it, so much energy, which is all channeled through and coming from Radcliffe's lead performance as well as the pretty out-there but uncompromising script. There are some big swings almost all of which connect. It's a triumph in tone.

A joyous, surprising thrill ride. A guaranteed good time for Weird Al devotees and the uninitiated.

Currently streaming on the Roku Channel(app you can download for free with a Roku device).

Don't Miss It.