Entertainment
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story review – Buff Daniel Radcliffe stars in exaggerated fantasy-James Mottram-Entertainment – Metro
Daniel Radcliffe has done some strange roles since he played Harry Potter, but this is his weirdest yet.
Daniel Radcliffe has done some strange roles since he played Harry Potter, but this is his weirdest yet (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)
Daniel Radcliffe has done some strange movies since his days as Harry Potter, not least playing a farting corpse in Swiss Army Man.
So perhaps it’s fitting he gets to don a curly wig, Hawaiian shirt, and spectacles, and pick up an accordion for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
‘Weird’ Al, of course, is the prince of pop parody, crafting brilliant riffs on hits like Beat It, Like a Virgin and Gangsta’s Paradise.
With the script co-written by director Eric Appel and ‘Weird’ Al himself, this bears little resemblance to his actual life.
Instead, fittingly, it’s a parody of traditional music bios, with all the usual tropes (dreams, struggles, fame, addiction) thrown into the mix.
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Bags of fun cameos and a charming lead performance sadly don’t make the film funny (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)
It’s pure exaggerated comic fantasy: Radcliffe’s Al creates his first hit My Bologna (a take on My Sharona) in his college dorm, making a sandwich, and within seconds, it’s getting major airplay.
As success strikes, he meets Madonna (a game Evan Rachel Wood), dates her, starts drinking heavily, abuses his bandmates and so on.
Amid all of this, there’s the odd gem of an idea (like ‘Eat It’ came first, with Michael Jackson parodying ‘Weird’ Al, not the other way around).
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But the big problem is that Weird… is simply not that funny when up against flawless showbiz parodies like Zoolander, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and the granddaddy of them all, This Is Spinal Tap.
There are bags of fun cameos, though, including Rainn Wilson, Will Forte and Jack Black (whose own band Tenacious D rivals ‘Weird’ Al in the comedy music stakes).
And a buffed-to-the-max Radcliffe, in what must be the weirdest/most inspired bit of casting all year, is a charming, likeable lead.
But given how pant-wettingly funny ‘Weird’ Al’s songs are (‘Amish Paradise’ alone is genius), it’s a shame it never really translates to screen. Weird, right?
Out Friday on Roku.
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