Arriving in tandem with the advent of MTV, “Weird Al” Yankovic was a custom glove-fit for the burgeoning audio-visual music revolution, yet he was unlike anyone else making music or videos at the time. Accompanying himself on accordion with a traditional guitar-bass-drums backing band, Yankovic’s stock-in-trade was in parodying other people’s songs. Not covers or novelties, just parodies.
For those born after, say, 1960, Yankovic was regarded as a trailblazing rebel; a guy willing to mock the self-serious nature of “musical artistes” while making himself part of the joke was something far more difficult to pull off than it might seem on the surface. Truth be told, musical parody has been around since the late 16th century, some 200 years before Mozart was even born.
Based on a 2010 “Funny or Die” fake-movie trailer of the same name by Yankovic and first-time feature director Eric Appel, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” (WTAYS) is the feature film version of a Yankovic song. It kinda-sorta looks and sounds like the genuine article, is loaded to the gills with parody, and—best of all—it takes nothing (especially itself) seriously.
Lunchmeat and Madonna
After a primo opening salvo depicting Yankovic as a child and preteen, “WTAYS” shifts into fifth gear and never lets up. Living the life of a frat boy without actually being in college, Yankovic (Daniel Radcliffe) is waiting for inspiration. When the 1979 song “My Sharona” by the Knack plays on the radio, Yankovic looks at a package of processed luncheon meat and comes up with the lyrics for “My Bologna.”
From this point forward, “WTAYS” slips into highly questionable historical accuracy, and it matters little in the greater scheme of things. I’ve always believed that all lies are lined with a thread of truth, which makes “WTAYS” irresistible.
In the mostly true department, Rainn Wilson co-stars as Dr. Demento (real name: Barret Hansen), the host of a nationally syndicated radio show who championed esoteric, bizarre, and offbeat musical acts such as Homer & Jethro, Frank Zappa, and the “fake” band Spinal Tap. A lifelong idol of Yankovic, Demento introduced him to a wide audience and became his mentor and creative advisor.
Yankovic’s (real) relationship with Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood) is raised to extravagantly false levels, yet works within the context of the story. Madonna was (is) an unabashed slave to self-promotion and sees Yankovic as a logical extension to her ultimate goal: more (if as she needed it) fame.
The Non-Potter
None of the success of “WTAYS” would have been remotely possible without Radcliffe’s thorough and complete immersion in the role.If there ever was anyone who could have been limited and stereotyped by a past juvenile role, it would be Radcliffe, and who will forever be remembered as the title character in the “Harry Potter” franchise.
Before the “Potter” series even ended, Radcliffe set about separating himself from the Potter role by playing the lead in both the West End and Broadway revivals of “Equus.” Since then, Radcliffe has (in an almost purposeful manner) starred in many high-brow, low-visibility art-house productions such as “Kill Your Darlings,” “Swiss Army Man” (where he played a corpse), and as a drug runner in “Beast of Burden.”
In one of his very few mainstream productions (“The Lost City”), Radcliffe appeared as the villain, further distancing himself from the Potter persona.
One thing that could prevent “WTAYS” from garnering blockbuster-level audience numbers is that it’s only available on Roku, an upstart streaming service with just a fraction of users when compared to those of heavyweights such as Netflix, Apple TV+, and HBO.
Be sure to stick around for one of the best end-credit sequences ever conceived, which, go figure, features the new (non-parody) Yankovic song “Now You Know.”
