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Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

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Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
The poster for "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story".
Official release poster
Directed byEric Appel
Written by
Based onWeird: The Al Yankovic Story
by Funny or Die and Eric Appel
Produced by
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic
  • Eric Appel
  • Mike Farah
  • Joe Farrell
  • Whitney Hodack
  • Tim Headington
  • Lia Buman
  • Max Silva
Starring
CinematographyRoss Riege
Edited byJamie Kennedy
Music by
Production
companies
  • Funny or Die
  • Tango
Distributed byThe Roku Channel
Release dates
  • September 8, 2022 (2022-09-08) (TIFF)
  • November 4, 2022 (2022-11-04) (The Roku Channel)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a 2022 American biographical parody film directed by Eric Appel from a screenplay he co-wrote with "Weird Al" Yankovic. The film, a satire of biopics and loosely based on Yankovic's life and career, stars Daniel Radcliffe as Yankovic, along with Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss, and Julianne Nicholson in supporting roles.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2022, and was released on The Roku Channel on November 4, 2022.

Plot

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a fictional, highly exaggerated story of Alfred Matthew Yankovic. As a kid, Al had become interested in playing the accordion, but his father strongly discouraged this as not normal, leading to Al becoming estranged from his parents. Living with his roommates Steve, Jim, and Bermuda, Al tried to join a band as an accordion player but was turned away. A flash of inspiration leads him to replace the words from The Knack's "My Sharona", creating "My Bologna". He sends the song to a local radio DJ, which proves popular. Al attempts to secure a record contract with the Scotti Bros., but they tell him he needs to perform concerts first before they will consider a contract.

Al performs "I Love Rocky Road" for the first time at a biker bar, his roommates stepping in to fill out his band. The song goes over great, and catches the interest of Dr. Demento, who offers to be his manager, though suggests he go by "Weird Al" Yankovic. Al impresses the elite of Hollywood at one of Dr. Demento's get-togethers by coming up with "Another One Rides the Bus" on the fly from a dare issued by Wolfman Jack and John Deacon. Al gets his record contract, and his first album goes multi-platinum.

Despite his successful career, Al finds his parents still are dismissive of him. Dr. Demento suggests Al try to make his own original song, which Al refuses until he is struck by inspiration after inadvertently taking LSD. His new song, "Eat It", is a huge success. Madonna starts to seduce Al and convince him to parody her song "Like a Virgin", though Al insists he only writes original songs. Dr. Demento and Al's bandmates warn him that Madonna is a bad influence, but they continue their romance. Just before a big show, Al learns that Michael Jackson had taken "Eat It" and parodied as "Beat It". Al is distraught by the news, gets drunk and ends up in a car accident. While he survives, he decides to take up Madonna's request, writing "Like a Surgeon" which he premieres at the show that night. When he is reminded that "Eat It" is the last song for the show, he goes back to drinking on stage, and is arrested for lewd behavior.

Once released, Al confesses to Madonna that he thinks his career is over. Suddenly, Madonna is captured by agents for Pablo Escobar, who is a huge fan of Al and uses the kidnapping to coerce him to play for him. Al manages to kill Escobar and his men to free Madonna, but when Madonna suggests they take over Escobar's drug ring, Al realizes that Madonna has been using him, and dumps her.

With no career, Al returns home to work in his father's factory. His father reveals that he has been a fan of Al since his career took off, bringing the family back together. Al's father revealed he had discouraged Al's interest in the accordion because for himself, growing up in an Amish community, he was excommunicated for also taking up the accordion. This story gives Al a fresh idea for a new song, "Amish Paradise", and leads to him winning a major award. At the ceremony, Madonna orchestrates Al's assassination, sending the nation into mourning.

In a mid-credits scene, Madonna visits Al's grave to leave flowers, only for Al's zombified arm to reach out and grab her.

Cast

Additionally, the real "Weird Al" Yankovic appears as Tony Scotti (president of Scotti Brothers Records) as homage to his original role in the Funny or Die skit,[8] and also provides onscreen Al's singing voice.[9] Yankovic's real life wife, Suzanne Krajewski, appears uncredited as Scotti's wife Sylvie Vartan. Thomas Lennon appears as an accordion salesman. Elijah Wood and Nat Faxon had roles as Phil Collins and Gilbert Gottfried, respectively, but were cut from the final film.

Production

Development

In 2010, Funny or Die released a fake trailer for a satirical biographical film titled Weird: The Al Yankovic Story directed by Eric Appel and starring Aaron Paul as musician "Weird Al" Yankovic.[10] Additional co-stars in the three-minute-long trailer included Yankovic himself, Olivia Wilde, Gary Cole, Mary Steenburgen, and Patton Oswalt.[11] At the time, the fake trailer was intended to parody prior biographical films on musicians, such as Ray (2004) and Walk the Line (2005).[8]

Yankovic would show the trailer during his concert tours leading some fans to think it was for a real film or encouraging him to make it one. Following the success of other musician biopics such as Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) and Rocketman (2019), Yankovic began to legitimately consider the idea of making a full-length film. He and Appel began to shop the idea around Hollywood, but the studios' initial impressions were that the film was going to be in the vein of a Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker full-on parody and passed on the idea. The two looked at common tropes in other musician biopics, finding that facts about the musician's life were often changed arbitrarily, and used a similar approach to writing Yankovic's biographical story with the same type of creative freedom.[12]

An actual full-length film of the same name was officially announced in January 2022, with Daniel Radcliffe set to star in the title role. It was directed by Appel from a screenplay he co-wrote with Yankovic.[13][14] Appel jokingly stated, "When Weird Al first sat me down against my will and told me his life story, I didn't believe any of it, but I knew that we had to make a movie about it."[10]

Yankovic and Appel had known that Radcliffe had been a fan of classic comedic musicians such as Tom Lehrer;[12] for his part, Radcliffe felt that his November 2010 appearance on The Graham Norton Show, during which he sang a rendition of Lehrer's song "The Elements", was the reason for his casting: "I guess Al saw that and was like, 'This guy maybe gets it.' And so he picked me."[15] The actor was already a fan of Yankovic's work through his own appreciation as well as that of his girlfriend, Erin Darke, who would play Yankovic's music on road trips.[12] He was also looking to expand his acting repertoire, believing the part gave him more creative capabilities similar to his role in Swiss Army Man (2016).[12]

Filming

Once Radcliffe signed on to star, Roku, Inc. agreed to invest in Weird.[12] As part of Roku's contract, filming had to be limited to eighteen days due to a combination of cost-saving measures and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[12] Principal photography was originally planned to take place in Atlanta to save costs, but Roku allowed the film to be shot in Los Angeles, which enabled Yankovic and Appel to bring in a number of celebrities as cameos.[8] Filming began on February 10, 2022.[16][17] Post-production was done while Yankovic was on the Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour in 2022, with Yankovic working remotely with Appel's team to finalize the film.[12]

Casting

As part of his preparation, Radcliffe learned the principles of playing the accordion, Yankovic's signature instrument, through video tutorials Yankovic had made for him.[18] Radcliffe sang the songs live on camera for the film, but his vocals were replaced with pre-recorded ones by Yankovic in the final version of the film.[9]

In March, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss, and Julianne Nicholson were confirmed to star.[19] Radcliffe concluded shooting his scenes after sixteen days on March 4, in Pomona, California.[20][21] Filming wrapped on March 8, 2022, after an eighteen-day shoot.[22] In July 2022, it was revealed Quinta Brunson would also star.[23]

Oswalt, who had played Dr. Demento in the original short, had been set to play this role in the film, but Oswalt broke his foot just before shooting, and due to the tight schedule, they could not wait. They were able to bring in Wilson to play the role at the last minute.[12] Oswalt was still able to cameo in the film.[5] Aaron Paul was set to cameo in the film, but he came down with COVID-19 during the filming period and was unable to participate.[24]

Music

While the film features several of Yankovic's previous songs such as "My Bologna", "Like a Surgeon", and "Eat It", it also includes a new song recorded by Yankovic for the film titled "Now You Know".[25]

Soundtrack

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Original Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by
"Weird Al" Yankovic
ReleasedNovember 4, 2022
Length77:48
Label
Producer
"Weird Al" Yankovic chronology
Squeeze Box
(2017) 		Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
(2022)

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Original Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album of the movie. Yankovic released it digitally the same day of the movie's release, on November 4, 2022. The album includes "Now You Know", several of his parodies featured in the film with new recorded versions, and the soundtrack compositions by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson.[26]

All tracks are written by Dan Light, Leo Birenberg, Ramiro Rodriguez and Zach Robinson, except where noted

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Original Soundtrack) – Digital edition
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."You Don't Know Anything (Dialogue)" (Al Yankovic, Eric Appel)Diedrich Bader0:10
2."My Bologna" (2022 version) (Yankovic)"Weird Al" Yankovic2:09
3."I Love Rocky Road" (2022 version) (Yankovic)"Weird Al" Yankovic2:35
4."Another One Rides the Bus" (2022 version) (Yankovic)"Weird Al" Yankovic2:34
5."Eat It" (Yankovic)"Weird Al" Yankovic3:18
6."Like a Surgeon" (2022 version) (Yankovic)"Weird Al" Yankovic3:23
7."Amish Paradise" (2022 version) (Yankovic)"Weird Al" Yankovic3:19
8."Now You Know" (Yankovic)"Weird Al" Yankovic5:18
9."Dr. Demento Opening Theme (Pico & Sepulveda)" (Eddie Cherkose, Jule Styne)The Roto Rooter Goodtime Christmas Band1:33
10."Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel)" (Jaromír Vejvoda, Lew Brown, Vasek Zeman, Vladimir Timm)Cory Pesaturo1:21
11."Helena Polka" (Traditional)Cory Pesaturo0:31
12."The Chicken Dance aka The Bird Dance" (Terry Rendall, Werner Thomas)The Emeralds2:43
13."Clarinet Polka" (Karol Namysłowski)"Weird Al" Yankovic0:35
14."Beat on the Brat" (Joey Ramone)"Weird Al" Yankovic0:19
15."Bowling with the Devil" (Yankovic)Skunk Barf0:13
16."The Cobra Pit" (Birenberg, Robinson)Leo Birenberg, Zach Robinson1:08
17."Demento's Pool Party" (Birenberg, Robinson)Leo Birenberg, Zach Robinson4:08
18."You're All a Bunch of Slaves (Instrumental)" (Yankovic)"Weird Al" Yankovic1:32
19."Guadalajara" (Pepe Guízar)César Chavira, César Ramírez, Omar Estrada1:15
20."Back From the Dead"Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:45
21."Weird"Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:53
22."The Accordion"Budapest Scoring Orchestra2:09
23."Hay Boy"Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:43
24."The Closet"Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:43
25."Epiphany"Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:51
26."Cracked the Code"Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:12
27."On the Spot"Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:35
28."A Rare Gift"Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:46
29."My Parents"Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:11
30."Write Your Own Songs"Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:21
31."LSD Trip"Budapest Scoring Orchestra2:06
32."Al and Madonna"Budapest Scoring Orchestra3:07
33."A Parody of 'Eat It'"Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:35
34."Drunk Driving"Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:54
35."You're All I've Got"Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:33
36."Diner Kidnapping"Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:22
37."Heart of the Jungle"Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:23
38."Certified Platinum"Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:28
39."It's All Business"Budapest Scoring Orchestra2:37
40."The Factory"Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:23
41."Dad Apologizes"Budapest Scoring Orchestra2:08
42."Raised Amish"Budapest Scoring Orchestra3:10
43."It's Nothing"Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:57
44."Would You be My Son?"Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:38
45."Al's Speech"Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:29
46."In Memoriam"Budapest Scoring Orchestra2:34
Total length:77:48

Release

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story had its world premiere at the Royal Alexandra Theatre during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2022,[27] and was released on The Roku Channel on November 4, 2022.[10][28] Yankovic requested for the film to have a limited release in theaters so that it would be eligible for the Oscars; Roku, however, declined, preferring for the film to be eligible for the Creative Arts Emmys.[29]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 85 reviews, with an average of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads, "Suitably silly, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story spoofs the standard biopic formula with all the good-natured abandon fans will expect."[30] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[31]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety reviewed, "Weird is witty and inventive enough to sustain what could, in lesser hands, have been a one-joke movie, an SNL riff on itself. The film's ultimate joke is that 'Weird Al' Yankovic's entire career was a joke — not just because he made so-daft-they're-funny versions of other people's songs, but because what he did made him a court jester of imitation."[32] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of B, writing that the film is "an alternative-facts fever dream so bent on the certifiably ridiculous that it circles back around somehow to sweetness. You don't need any of it, really, but as far as celebrity hagiographies go, you kind of can't beat it."[3]

At TIFF, the film was the winner of the People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness.[33]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Milici, Lauren (29 August 2022). "Daniel Radcliffe is a rock n roll sex god in new Weird: The Al Yankovic Story trailer". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022. The cast also includes Rainn Wilson as radio personality Dr. Demento, Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey, James Preston Rogers as Hulk Hogan, and Will Forte in an unnamed role.
  2. ^ Nolfi, Joey (September 8, 2022). "RuPaul's Drag Race queen Nina West plays drag icon Divine in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e Greenblatt, Leah. "Daniel Radcliffe commits fully in the loopy fact-free biopic 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Review: Novelty Acts & Cult Heroes Take The Spotlight". theplaylist.net. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Olsen, Mark (September 9, 2022). "Inside the 'Weird' (Al Yankovic) world premiere: Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood and Hawaiian shirts". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  6. ^ "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Review (TIFF)". joblo.com. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  7. ^ Williams, LeChristopher (November 3, 2022). "I had the honor to portray @coolio in Weird: The Al Yankovic story playing on @therokuchannel Nov 4th! Rest In Paradise to a legend #coolio and condolences to the family" – via Instagram.
  8. ^ a b c Scott, Walter (October 28, 2022). "'Weird Al' Gets Serious About His New Biopic and Whether He Had to Get Madonna's Permission To Use Her Likeness". Parade. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Daniel Radcliffe Lip Syncs in 'Weird Al' Movie, but He Still Sang Live in Front of Yankovic: It Was 'Intimidating'". Variety. September 9, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c Grobar, Matt (January 18, 2022). "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story: Daniel Radcliffe To Portray Grammy Winner In Roku Biopic From Funny Or Die & Tango". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  11. ^ Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Funny or Die. June 25, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2022 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Itzkoff, Dave (September 8, 2022). "When Weird Al Yankovic Met Daniel Radcliffe, Things Got … Well, You Know". The New York Times. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  13. ^ Galuppo, Mia (January 18, 2022). "Daniel Radcliffe to Play 'Weird Al' Yankovic in Biopic". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  14. ^ Ritman, Alex (November 1, 2022). "Daniel Radcliffe on Going 'Weird' in His Post-Potter Career, Picking Roles "On the Basis of What Seems Fun"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  15. ^ Gajewski, Ryan (March 19, 2022). "Daniel Radcliffe Says He Landed 'Weird Al' Role Due to Novelty Song He Performed for Rihanna". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  16. ^ Heller, Corinne (February 18, 2022). "Daniel Radcliffe Is Unrecognizable as 'Weird Al' Yankovic in Biopic Transformation". E! Online. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  17. ^ "Weird Al" Yankovic [@alfredyankovic] (February 10, 2022). "So excited – it's DAY #1 on the set of #WEIRDTheAlYankovicStory!". Retrieved February 20, 2022 – via Instagram.
  18. ^ Galuppo, Mia (September 9, 2022). "Daniel Radcliffe and Accordions Get Big Applause at the 'Weird' TIFF Premiere". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  19. ^ Kreps, Daniel (March 2, 2022). "See Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna in First Look Photo From 'Weird Al' Yankovic Biopic". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  20. ^ Sperling, Nicole (August 22, 2022). "Roku Enters Originals With 'Weird'". The New York Times. p. B1. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  21. ^ "Weird Al" Yankovic [@alfredyankovic] (March 4, 2022). "SHOOT DAY #16: Well, we've got a couple more days left to go, but ladies and gentlemen... that is a WRAP on Mr. Radcliffe! Wait till you see him in this. He's even more like me than I am. #WEIRDTheAlYankovicStory". Retrieved March 4, 2022 – via Instagram.
  22. ^ Shaunette, Morgan (March 9, 2022). "Weird Al Yankovic Shares Photo Celebrating the Final Day of Shooting His Biopic". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  23. ^ Spangler, Todd (July 19, 2022). "Quinta Brunson Transforms Into Oprah in 'Weird' Al Yankovic Movie Alongside Daniel Radcliffe". Variety. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  24. ^ Eisenberg, Eric (April 14, 2022). "Aaron Paul Was Supposed To Be A Surprise Addition To The Weird Al Movie, But Explains Why He Had To Bow Out At The Last Second". CinemaBlend. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  25. ^ Lenker, Maureen Lee (September 9, 2022). "Weird Al Yankovic may have an Oscar campaign ahead for original song, 'Now You Know'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  26. ^ ""Weird Al" Yankovic Reveals Biopic Soundtrack, Featuring New Song "Now You Know": Stream". Consequence of Sound. November 4, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  27. ^ Vlessing, Etan (August 4, 2022). "Toronto Film Festival: Daniel Radcliffe's Weird: The Al Yankovic Story to Open Midnight Madness". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 4, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  28. ^ The Roku Channel. "Roku Original - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story". Roku. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  29. ^ Parker, Lyndsey (October 28, 2022). "'Weird Al' Yankovic on his fight to make 'Weird' Oscar-eligible and 'awkward' timing of the film's Coolio spoof: 'I would've hoped that he would've gotten a kick out of it'". Yahoo!. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  30. ^ "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  31. ^ "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  32. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (September 9, 2022). "'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' Review: Daniel Radcliffe Gets His Goof on in a Daffy-Droll Music Biopic That Skewers Its Hero and Itself". Variety. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  33. ^ Zilko, Christian (September 18, 2022). "'The Fabelmans' Wins TIFF 2022 People's Choice Award". IndieWire.
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