'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' review: Daniel Radcliffe becomes the beloved parody musician

It is certainly fitting that "Weird Al" Yankovic, a musician whose pronounced lack of seriousness has been a crucial part of his appeal and longevity, would filter his life through the musical biopic, a genre infamous for its sobriety. , melodramatic efforts. What better way for the world's preeminent parody musician to pay homage to himself than by using his own life story to parody the biopic itself? While "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story," co-written by Yankovic and director Eric Appel, broadly follows the beats of the fake three-minute Funny or Die trailer it's based on, the film's riffs on the Yankovic's career to paint a portrait of the artist as a pop cultural renaissance man who can sell out stadiums, lay down Madonna and take on Pablo Escobar in just a few years. Appel and Yankovic exaggerate, then stray completely from the truth until their impersonation of the real story is all that remains.

That said, "Weird" can still be broadly divided into semi-factual and offbeat sections. The more successful first half follows Al, played by an engaged Daniel Radcliffe, as a comedy- and accordion-obsessed child struggling with parents (Toby Huss and Julianne Nicholson) who disapprove of his musical ambitions. He eventually leaves home to attend college where his roommates and future band members encourage him to dream of becoming a parody artist. ("I want to invent lyrics for a song that already exists," Al tells his friends with almost religious conviction.) Shortly after sending a tape of "My Bologna" to a local radio station, Al tunes in with broadcaster and comedy creator Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson) who puts him on the path to stardom.

"Weird" certainly has fun emphasizing and summarizing the details of Yankovic's rise to fame, but it's great that Appel and Yankovic stick to the broad strokes first. story. Yankovic's relationship with Dr. Demento, whose cult radio show specializing in novelty songs, was crucial to his early success. "My Bologna" was actually recorded in a bathroom to take advantage of the acoustics, but not in a bus station bathroom where Al and his bandmates have to kick customers out for privacy. Yankovic actually recorded the Queen parody "Another One Rides the Bus" live, except at a lavish party to prove his talent to DJ Wolfman Jack (Jack Black) in front of other "weird" artists like Pee-Wee Herman, Gallagher, and DEVO. They even included the detail of Yankovic drummer Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz (Tommy O'Brien) banging on his accordion case to keep a steady beat.

Given the facts, however slightly, "Weird" can improvise and digress in an entertaining way. Huss shines as a maniacally unsupportive father to Yankovic, who works "at the factory", a seemingly dangerous place whose exit is an abiding mystery, and finds his son's song parodies "puzzling and diabolical". Radcliffe nails the classic inspiration-stricken expression as he watches a pack of bologna while "My Sharona" plays on the radio. In an eerily sweet scene, Al charms the grizzled whiskey-and-heroin crowd at a hyper-violent punk bar with his first live performance of "I Love Rocky Road." Arguably the best and funniest scene in the movie features a teenaged Al secretly attending a "polka party" where he gets his first taste of cheer before he's busted by the cops. p>

"Weird" finally takes a turn into gonzo fiction when it's time for Al to record "Eat It", one of his greatest hits. Except in the movie universe, "Eat It" is not a parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" but an original song, which Al wrote in an attempt to become a "serious" artist. When Jackson records his "Beat It" parody, it drives Al crazy and he sees his hit like an albatross around his neck. (It's unclear if this joke was simply meant to be nonsense or if it fits with Yankovic's recent decision to remove his parodies of Jackson from his live show following the HBO documentary "Leaving Neverland.") At this At that point, Al quickly falls for Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood, doing a goofy pop star-winning impression), whose quest for the "Yankovic bump" in record sales drives her to trap Al and rip him off. lead to alcoholism until he was magically struck by inspiration to record "Like a Surgeon".

While it's fun to see Wood take on the role of the chewing-gum smashing vixen or a shirtless Radcliffe...