Weird Al brings us a suitably wacky satire of the sleazy tell-all rock’n’roll biopic, while also having some fun with his own squeaky-clean public image. In _Weird_, we learn all about his abusive childhood, his secret obsession with polka parties and Hawaiian shirts, his fiery encounter with Pablo Escobar and his many wild, drunken orgies with “Like a Virgin” era Madonna. It’s an absurd fiction, of course, no truer than his resemblance to a frequently bare-chested Daniel Radcliffe, but half the fun lies in those wild, increasingly drastic, departures from reality.

I had a vague memory of this idea in its formative phase, way back in the bygone year of 2010 (ancient history where internet memes are concerned), when a joke teaser of the same name was first posted to the _Funny or Die_ website. Revisiting it now, I’m not sure the full-length treatment was necessary. That trailer hits all the essential bits in a mere three minutes, even a winking cameo from the real Weird Al as a snide record executive, and gets out before the joke can wear thin. That’s where I think Yankovic’s brand of humor works best - bite-sized - and why his songs (not to mention his first starring role, the manic _UHF_) have weathered the test of time. We barely get a chance to breathe before the scene shifts and we’re on to the next topic. Not the case with _Weird_, which leans hard into the trappings of the genre it parodies and leaves slack between the bigger laughs. It starts strong and finishes with a bang, sprinkling a wealth of surprise cameo appearances throughout, but I was left wishing for more consistency.

The overall concept here makes sense. Weird Al is known for parody. So naturally, his biopic film should be a parody of the entire biopic genre, rather than some ho-hum, by the numbers biopic. Unfortunately, as a parody target, the biopic genre didn't work quite as well for me as the top billboard hits that Weird Al made his career parodying. The main difference being, the top billboard hits were exactly that, they were _hits_. They were catchy songs that everyone already knew and loved. By comparison, I never had much appreciation for the biopic genre, which often produces bland movies that leave me wishing I had just read the Wikipedia article. As such, even a tongue in cheek deconstruction wasn't able to overcome my lack of enthusiasm for the structure.

All of that said, there were plenty of solid bits and even some moments of genius that were enough to keep me watching. The highlight for me was [spoiler]the reversal they pulled with Michael Jackson's "Beat It"[/spoiler]. Clever and hilarious. The frequent cameos also offered some chuckles here and there. However, those cameos, along with the segmented structure of the film, gave off an extended YouTube/SNL skit type feel. Unfortunately, that type of humor is more palatable in short form, so the 110 minutes we got here definitely overstayed its welcome for me.

Kinda refreshing, this brand of comedy that’s highly silly but still pretty sharp is sorely missed in movies nowadays, it feels like a quaint throwback. It’s very _Austin Powers_ and _Monty Python_-esque, if that’s your thing you’ll probably dig it. The casting’s pretty much perfect, I’m very happy Daniel Radcliffe got to show us his comedic chops. It also looks pretty decent, especially when you consider that filmmakers usually don’t put that much effort into the visuals of these kind of comedies. Its biggest issue is that it sticks way too close to the general formula of musical biopics. This is pretty much another _Bohemian Rhapsody_ or _Rocketman_, just with a stronger comedic angle. It’s more entertaining than both of those, but also not as clever and subversive as _Walk Hard_. Near the end it starts to let go of the tropes and becomes a lot more bonkers. The genuine emotional beats that it tries to hit don’t quite land (the occasional attempts at being Spielberg-y feel off to me), and it heavily overuses the writing trope of ‘stating something that’s clearly meant ironically for the audience’. Finally, I wasn’t a fan of the singing, the voice change and very obvious use of autotune are both very distracting for a movie that’s supposed to take place in the 80s (yeah sure, it’s a parody, but still). All in all, it does just enough for me, but I’d love to see the Mel Brooks version of this.

6/10

As weird Al's songs were parodies... this appears to be a parody of his life. From what I've read about him, nothing in this is even remotely true.

To be honest, I didn't even find it enjoyable.
I was kinda glad when it finished.