From the minds of writer-director Eric Appel and the best accordion player within a very niche genre of music, Al Yankovic as co-writer and producer, comes the satirical biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. This account of Alfred Matthew Yankovic’s life takes the usual rules of a Hollywood biopic and turns them up to eleven, and telling this story through such a hyperbolic lens is very apropos for someone who parodies popular songs. We watch “Weird Al,” played by Daniel Radcliffe, from a young boy just discovering his love for the accordion to his subsequent rise to stardom with the aid of Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson) and Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood).

From Horns to Kill Your Darlings to Swiss Army Man, and now this, Radcliffe continues to prove himself as simply one of the coolest actors working today. With his wit, charisma, and dry sense of humour, it’s clear he was born to play Weird Al. In fact, everyone in this film seems perfectly situated in their roles, including Wood, who’s great opposite Radcliffe, both actors feeding off one another to bring out some of their most hilarious performances to date. 

Not a single second is wasted here–every joke lands and each call-back ends up being even more satisfying than the last. It’s massively entertaining, uproariously funny, and the entire cast seems to be having the time of their lives, which translates to one hell of a movie-going experience for the audience.

Weird is ridiculousness at its finest. And with the recent influx of recycled, Oscar-bait biopics, it’s undoubtedly refreshing to finally see one that doesn’t take itself too seriously, featuring a lineup of talented actors and of course, some of Weird Al’s most iconic songs. What more could you ask for?

RATING: 4/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss, Arturo Castro, Julianne Nicholson

DIRECTOR: Eric Appel

WRITERS: Eric Appel, Al Yankovic

SYNOPSIS: An entertaining tell-all about the comedy and music legend “Weird Al” as well as a side-splitting skewing of all the music biopics that preceded it.