Eric Appel’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

A hilarious, cinema-literate pastiche of the rock biopic whose strength comes from its ability to play even the most ridiculous with a straight face led heroically by a terrific comedy performance from Daniel Radcliffe

From a script written by Al Yankovic and Eric Appel, this is a surprisingly funny and effective pastiche of the biopic. What makes it work so well is how deftly it manages to keep the tone level with other Hollywood biopics never once winking at the camera but playing with firm conviction led by Daniel Radcliffe’s earnest performance. The cinematography, music and tropes rest so naturally that it’s hard to tell it’s a pastiche we’re watching outside the increasingly hilarious liberties taken with reality.

In 1989, Al Yankovic and Jay Levey released “UHF” which starred Yankovic and had several parodies within its story of an independent television channel. The film itself had its moments but its core weakness was Yankovic’s acting which was openly silly, but that’s resolved here with Radcliffe while keeping Yankovic to his strengths with a script whose gags are more witty and subtle(relatively speaking) though Yankovic does do a good job playing a music executive.

All in all, it’s a ridiculous and well-crafted parody of the rock musician biopics of the past few decades that won me over. Also, stick around for the end scene in the graveyard.