By Steve Dinneen
The spoof genre has been absent from Hollywood for a while. A mainstay on the big screen from the 70s to the 2000s, Nowadays Youtube and social media are a more fertile ground for cinema parody. However, one content creator has teamed up with a music legend to offer a feature length send-up of the music biopic boom.
Based on a YouTube sketch by Funny Or Die, Weird is the entirely fictional biopic of “Weird Al” Yankovic (Daniel Radcliffe), the singer-songwriter famous for his parodies of popular music such as Eat It and Like A Surgeon. The film imagines an alternative reality, following Yankovic as he pursues his lifelong dream to “make up new words to a song that already exists”. Success soon follows, but the fame and fortune soon proves too much for the star, who is manipulated by girlfriend Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood).
Although considered an 80s novelty, Yankovic is no joke, winning five Grammies, appearing in many movies, and had a US number one album as recently as 2014. For those aware of his comedy, this is the perfect fit – what better way to celebrate a parody artist than to have his biopic parody other biopics? The made-up stories, from the toxic relationship with Madonna to the idea that Michael Jackson’s Beat It was a parody of Eat It (rather than the other way round) set the tone nicely. Even if you’ve never heard of the singer, you’ll understand the targets the film is aiming for, and appreciate the ludicrous concept.
Since graduating from Hogwarts, Radcliffe has been daring with his projects, playing everything from Allen Ginsburg to a corpse. Here, he reveals himself to be incredibly funny, gleefully prancing around with an accordion, curly hair and moustache. He’s willing to have a laugh at himself, along with Wood who does a great impression of The Material Girl (albeit a heightened, villainous version). It’s also jampacked with cameos from stars who are clearly fans. Conan O’Brien is hilariously bad as Andy Warhol, while Jack Black, Rainn Wilson, Elijah Wood and others pop up as minor celebs from the era.
Debuting on streaming network Roku, Weird is the perfect choice for a lightweight laugh. Enjoyable as a tribute to Yankovic’s work or as a roast of Hollywood sentiment, it seems destined to become as much of a cult favourite as the man himself.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is on The Roku Channel from 4 November.
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