While I'm not the most avid fan of the so-called "music biopic" genre there are some films to admire like 2019s Rocketman, which features a superb turn from Taron Egerton as Sir Elton John and he most definitely was robbed of an Academy Award nomination, and then there are films to loathe simply because they are pretty terrible and just don't really make a lot of sense like 2018s Bohemian Rhapsody, which the general public still seems to like a lot more than they should. One aspect, most of them if not factually all have in common, is the verisimilitude of things. At least to some degree or another, they all make something up, and then there's Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which is so absurdly unrealistic that it has instantaneously become one of my favorite biopics ever.
The film centers around parody legend Weird Al Yankovic, (who is played here by Daniel Radcliffe, more on him later though) and his supposed "life". His mother (portrayed by Julianne Nicholson, who is already playing the second biopic mom of the year, after Marilyn Monroe's mom in the horrendous Blonde) tells him early on that he should "stop being who you are and doing the things you love", which naturally motivates him to do the things he loves to do. This should also be the point where the viewer might come to realize that this film couldn't be further away from Yankovic's actual life. And that's the great thing about this flabbergasting sensation of a film, it is so unabashedly absurd to the point of hilarity. ( Weird Al literally kills Pablo Escobar and Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood) becomes a drug kingpin, only to name a few examples).
In one of the best skits of the film, (which isn't really a skit, it's more like an incredibly funny detail) Daniel Radcliffe, who looks nothing like the actual Weird Al, (he's also still movie star-esque shredded) plays one of the biggest stars of his generation, Weird Al Yankovic. Radcliffe really is able to show off his comedic skills, not so much through his line deliveries, but more so through his facial expressions (mostly incredibly stern and stoic) and his general acting skills. Now that I think about it maybe it's also his line deliveries, he really is that good. People also just have to appreciate (maybe just the cinephiles) that he got his big checks, that could theoretically last a lifetime, from the Harry Potter series and now has moved on to do the craziest and most interesting of indie films (Guns Akimbo is another thing entirely). He's become quite the indie darling.
It's also really brilliant how Weird Al always writes parody songs and this is basically (not basically, it actually is) a parody of musical biopics itself. The film originated through an idea from Eric Appel, who directed the "Funny or Die" skit back in 2010 (Aaron Paul played Yankovic back then). This time, however, he teamed up with Yankovic himself to write the film's screenplay, and who knows the persona of Weird Al better than Yankovic himself. Thanks to that we get some more insight into the mind of Yankovic (if what we get to see at the end of the day is accurate is not very likely though). At some times I did ask myself if it would've been better to cut some scenes and add some more intimate or grounded stuff into the equation. In the end, though Weird: The Al Yankovic Story has to be one of the most exciting and best movie experiences I've had all year.
GRADE: B+
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