Weird Al holds a special place in my heart and in that of millions of others. Growing up, not only was going to see him perform the first "real" concert I went to (other than Beatles tribute bands), but the music video for his song "White and Nerdy" was also the very first YouTube video I watched, way back circa 2007 when the behemoth of a platform was still in its wee days. Hundreds of concerts and Lord-knows-how-many YouTube videos later, I sat down to watch this full-length movie. I do not regret it.
This movie serves as a fictionalized account of the Weird Al origin story. This is the story of the boy who, against all odds, picked up an accordion and started making up lyrics to other people's songs, becoming the man we all know and love today. The movie, just like the better part of the musician's repertoire, is a parody in and of itself. It over-exaggerates Weird Al's rise to fame and pokes fun at a lot of star rockstar clichés along the way.
I must admit, at first I was somewhat skeptical about the casting choice. Why did they pick the guy who played Harry Potter to be Weird Al? Watching the movie, it's pretty obvious he was cast because of his washboard abs to over-exaggerate Weird Al's status as a Hollywood sex symbol. Which he never was in the first place. That all being said, Daniel Radcliffe hits the role out of the park. Rainn Wilson, an actor whose time had seemingly come and gone, also deserves a shoutout for his fantastic betrayal of Weird Al's mentor, Dr. Demento.
The movie's pacing is admittedly, well, weird, and not necessarily in a good way. Al's college roommates become his bandmates, for convenience sake, and then kind of disappear from the movie altogether. The fictionalized origin story for one of his most famous songs (which wasn't even released during this time) feels just kind of thrown into the mix at the end. It honestly kind of ruins the movie, which up until that point had only showcased the musician's earliest hits from the early 1980s. A sequel or two portraying later phases of his career would have been preferable.
The movie has an overall positive message: "Be yourself and don't be afraid to be as weird as you want to be." However, it's hard to say if it actually lives up to that message. Apart from the way he dresses, Al is never really seen as embracing being weird. In this alternate reality, the accordion is over-glorified, similar to how the electric guitar at that time in our own reality was over-glorifiedd. This makes for a fun movie, but I feel like it could have better highlighted perhaps Al's childhood struggles fitting in with his classmates for being too weird. It also seems hypocritical for the movie to promote being weird when Daniel Radcliffe is completely shredded, thus submitting to unrealistic Western standards of how men are "supposed to look."
As a final complaint, there was something about the way the parody songs featured in the movie were edited that didn't quite sit right with me. I don't know if it was auto-tune or poor sound mixing, or perhaps even my TV setup, but it just sounded weird, and again, not in a good way. Then again, a lot of Weird Al songs have a kind of similar thing going on.
In conclusion, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a wild ride. It is definitely a must-see for his die-hard fans. More casual listeners may enjoy it too, but wouldn't understand many of the references. It is a movie to be approached with an open mind. Kudos to Weird Al and his team for such an original take on a movie genre that is quickly becoming as over-saturated as superhero movies.
This movie serves as a fictionalized account of the Weird Al origin story. This is the story of the boy who, against all odds, picked up an accordion and started making up lyrics to other people's songs, becoming the man we all know and love today. The movie, just like the better part of the musician's repertoire, is a parody in and of itself. It over-exaggerates Weird Al's rise to fame and pokes fun at a lot of star rockstar clichés along the way.
I must admit, at first I was somewhat skeptical about the casting choice. Why did they pick the guy who played Harry Potter to be Weird Al? Watching the movie, it's pretty obvious he was cast because of his washboard abs to over-exaggerate Weird Al's status as a Hollywood sex symbol. Which he never was in the first place. That all being said, Daniel Radcliffe hits the role out of the park. Rainn Wilson, an actor whose time had seemingly come and gone, also deserves a shoutout for his fantastic betrayal of Weird Al's mentor, Dr. Demento.
The movie's pacing is admittedly, well, weird, and not necessarily in a good way. Al's college roommates become his bandmates, for convenience sake, and then kind of disappear from the movie altogether. The fictionalized origin story for one of his most famous songs (which wasn't even released during this time) feels just kind of thrown into the mix at the end. It honestly kind of ruins the movie, which up until that point had only showcased the musician's earliest hits from the early 1980s. A sequel or two portraying later phases of his career would have been preferable.
The movie has an overall positive message: "Be yourself and don't be afraid to be as weird as you want to be." However, it's hard to say if it actually lives up to that message. Apart from the way he dresses, Al is never really seen as embracing being weird. In this alternate reality, the accordion is over-glorified, similar to how the electric guitar at that time in our own reality was over-glorifiedd. This makes for a fun movie, but I feel like it could have better highlighted perhaps Al's childhood struggles fitting in with his classmates for being too weird. It also seems hypocritical for the movie to promote being weird when Daniel Radcliffe is completely shredded, thus submitting to unrealistic Western standards of how men are "supposed to look."
As a final complaint, there was something about the way the parody songs featured in the movie were edited that didn't quite sit right with me. I don't know if it was auto-tune or poor sound mixing, or perhaps even my TV setup, but it just sounded weird, and again, not in a good way. Then again, a lot of Weird Al songs have a kind of similar thing going on.
In conclusion, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a wild ride. It is definitely a must-see for his die-hard fans. More casual listeners may enjoy it too, but wouldn't understand many of the references. It is a movie to be approached with an open mind. Kudos to Weird Al and his team for such an original take on a movie genre that is quickly becoming as over-saturated as superhero movies.