If you were a popular artist in the 1980s and up to now, you knew that any song you recorded would inevitably be given the parody treatment by Weird Al Yankovic. He parodied every major artist from Michael Jackson and Phil Collins to Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga. Whether you consider him painfully unfunny or one of the most hilarious satirists, the one thing that can’t be debated is his indelible mark on pop culture as someone who has never compromised on what kind of music he wants to make. It’s only fitting that his biopic treatment, which comes after a long line of musical biopics like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, should parody the musical biopic itself. At a moment when biopics are predictable and done entirely by the numbers, it’s time for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
Director Eric Appel has put together an eclectic but incredibly talented cast. In the lead as Weird Al is Daniel Radcliffe, who rose to fame as a young child when he beat out basically every child actor in England for the prized role of Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Starring alongside him as pop icon Madonna is Evan Rachel Wood. The role of Dr. Demento, the man who discovered Weird Al, has gone to Rainn Wilson, who is most famous for his iconic portrayal of the odd-ball farmer/salesman, Dwight Schrute on The Office. Rounding out the cast is Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey, and the film also stars Will Forte, Conan O’Brien, Jack Black, Nina West, Patton Oswalt, Lin Manuel Miranda, and Weird Al himself as Tony Scotti, the president of Scotti Brothers Records, among many others.
For anybody who can’t wait to see this “truthful” biopic, here’s everything we know about how, when, and where you can watch this ridiculous satire.
When and Where Can You Watch Weird: The Al Yankovic Story?
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story previously premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2022, and will be released to the public exclusively on The Roku Channel on November 4.
Watch the Trailer For Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
A full-length trailer for Weird was released on August 29, 2022. Seeing as how the film is a parody of the biopic genre, the trailer is as well. It begins with a young Weird Al getting into trouble for playing the accordion underage at a polka party. What the world doesn’t understand is that, as he says, all he’s ever wanted is to make up new words to a song that already exists. When a spark of genius hits him and he comes up with his first song (“My Bologna” for “My Sharona”), his career as an all-star musician begins. With this newfound fame comes hedonistic fun and eventual downfall. His extremely fictitious relationship with Madonna leads him on the oft-taken path of drug and alcohol addiction. However, the trailer ends on an inspirational note with Weird Al exclaiming that you should embrace your weirdness. Given that this is only a small taste of the film’s biopic caricature, it looks like it's set to be a hilarious hit.
What Are the Critics Saying About Weird: The Al Yankovic Story?
When it premiered at TIFF, Weird: The Al Yankovic received universal acclaim and even won the People’s Choice Award for Midnight Madness. The movie is currently rocking a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Collider’s own Ross Bonaime praised the film calling it a "hilarious biopic satire" in his review, giving the movie a B rating. Read on for an excerpt from the review or read the full article here:
It is an absolutely charming and often hilarious look at the world’s greatest parody musician, packed with an excellent cast that wants to pay tribute to this weird man. Weird dares to be stupid and succeeds because of it.
More Satirical Films like Weird: The Al Yankovic Story That You Can Watch Now
To help you out while you wait for the movie to premiere on Roku, here’s a list of just a few genre-defying satires that will make you laugh and rethink overused cinematic tropes and traditions.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007): In the early 2000s, just as today, Hollywood saw a dramatic influx of musical biopics with the likes of Ray and Walk the Line. This trend was swiftly crushed when Jake Kasdan made Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. From cradle to grave, the film tells the fictional life story of rock’n’roller Dewey Cox, played by John C Reilly. Taking inspiration from the lives of musicians like Johnny Cash, Jim Morrison, and Brian Wilson, among others, the movie has earned its status as a cult classic. Even if you don’t like the film, you have to be eternally grateful that it forced Hollywood to come up with more interesting ways to tell these musicians’ stories.
Rent on AmazonBlazing Saddles (1974): Mel Brooks made a career out of lampooning genres like horror with Young Frankenstein, sci-fi with Spaceballs, and Hitchcockian thrillers with High Anxiety. His best satire, however, was Blazing Saddles. This Western parody tells the story of a robber baron named Hedley Lamar, who desperately wants to build a railroad through the town of Rock Ridge. To make sure the residents vacate, he assigns them a black sheriff in the hopes that their prejudice drives them out. Brooks exposes the racist and conservative nature of the Western genre and with the help of co-writer Richard Pryor, he makes a smart and edgy comedy about American race relations.
Watch on HuluAirplane! (1980): One of the bigger film trends in 1970s Hollywood was that of the disaster movie. Though it started off strong with films like The Poseidon Adventure, it soon devolved with movies like Airport ‘77. Airplane not only takes aim at the disaster genre but at several other popular films of the 1970s. The movie follows Ted Striker, an alcoholic pilot who has developed a fear of flying. But when the pilots on his plane come down with food poisoning, he’ll have to step up to the plate. With hilarious sight gags and jokes, it’s unmissable. Who can forget the famous line, “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley”?