Weird: The Al Yankovic Story 2022
This movie got surprisingly good reviews and was free on Roku, so I figured I would try it out. It starts off pretty strong with a young Al Yankovic at home with parents who disapprove of his interest in music. I‘m not sure I realized that the movie is barely autobiographical, incorporating only a few facts, including his name and some of his most famous songs. Very quickly it just becomes a parody of all music biopics and movies in general which is when it really starts to drag. Something like that has already been done better in Walk Hard and even that wasn’t that great. It is enjoyable for the first 20 or 30 minutes including a scene at a pool where some somewhat famous people portray more famous people. After that there are fewer cameos and even less of a compelling story. It isn’t surprising that it runs out of steam so quickly since the movie is based on a 3-minute fake trailer. Also, while it seems like Weird Al has had a lot of hits, we only hear a few of them here. I feel like maybe some of the things that are in the movie were funny if you were there and knew what they were making fun of, so a commentary or making of documentary could actually be more interesting than the movie. There are glimmers of comedy and a couple of more cameos after the pool scene, but quit while you are ahead.
Written: 11 Dec 2022