Thursday, November 17, 2022

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - 3 1/2 Stars - Roku Channel Free - September 8, 2022

You remember Weird Al - the guy who took pop hits from the 80s and turned them into comic parodies.  Michael Jackson's Beat It became Eat It, Madonna's Like a Virgin - Like a Surgeon and on and on.  Now Al Yankovic makes up an outrageous movie biography - in essence a parody of movie biographies.  Good sport Daniel Radcliff, in his life after Harry Potter, seems the perfect actor to inhabit Weird Al.  The comedy starts strong, and roars to a high point when Weird Al attends a party of his idols, including cheesy imitators of Pee Wee Herman, Salvador Dali and Wolfman Jack (channeled by Jack Black.).  Other stand outs include Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento, Evan Rachel Wood as the most rapacious version of Madonna you've ever seen and Quinta Brunson as a smiling exuberant Oprah Winfrey. It's all in good fun and delivers good fun, one of the best fun times of the year.