When Hollywood decides to make a biopic, it chooses a dangerous path. No matter which course the production takes, it’s destined to be fraught with difficulties and criticism. If every event of the person’s life is depicted, it’s too long and boring. If some events are omitted, it cuts out the best parts. If plot points are dramatized for entertainment’s sake, it’s misleading. If they make the story too inaccurate, relatives will likely sue them. If they make the story too accurate, then relatives will really sue them!
Since it seems like movies about real people just can’t win, one recent biopic decided to avoid all the hassle by being unashamedly fictional. “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is, judging from the title, a film about parody songwriter “Weird Al” Yankovic. However, the story is a complete parody of not only the title character’s life and experiences but famous rock musicians and their biopics.
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“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” was produced by Funny or Die and Tango Entertainment. Since it was released on the Roku Channel, it is technically a TV movie. It was directed by Eric Appel, who co-wrote the story with Al Yankovic himself. The idea for this movie goes back to 2010, when Funny or Die released a fake trailer for a parody biopic like this. When fans saw the trailer at Yankovic’s concerts, they thought it was or should be a real film. With the unlikely casting of former “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe, the film found financial backing from Roku.
As a little boy, Al Yankovic (Richard Aaron Anderson) loves quirky radio programs by Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson). His parents (Toby Huss and Julianne Nicholson) don’t understand his eclectic tastes. Al finds his passion when a traveling accordion salesman (Thomas Lennon) comes to their door; his mother secretly buys him one. Teenaged Al (David Bloom) is disowned by his father after getting caught at a polka party. As a young man (Radcliffe), Al finds his calling when he re-lyricizes “My Sharona” as “My Bologna” while making a sandwich. The recording he makes in a bathroom becomes a big radio hit. A few lucky breaks lead him to meet Dr. Demento, who makes him an overnight sensation. Once Al’s a huge star, emerging pop artist Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood) begins an illicit romance with him so he’ll parody her song “Like a Virgin.” However, she introduces him to a destructive alcoholic lifestyle.
A Deadline article quotes Eric Appel, “When Weird Al first sat me down against my will and told me his life story, I didn’t believe any of it, but I knew that we had to make a movie about it.” When I heard about this crazy movie, which is unashamed fiction about a real person’s life, it reminded me of another honestly fictional biopic, “Hans Christian Andersen” from 1952, in more ways than one.
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“Hans Christian Andersen” is a Samuel Goldwyn production starring Danny Kaye as the title character. Everyone is familiar with the fairytales Andersen wrote, but few people know anything about this 19th-century Danish author’s life. After watching this movie, you still won’t know anything about Andersen’s life, since it is complete fiction. The film is very transparent about this, however, beginning with the opening disclaimer, “Once upon a time there lived in Denmark a great storyteller named Hans Christian Andersen. This is not the story of this life, but a fairy tale about this great spinner of fairy tales.” Producer Goldwyn had the idea for a fairytale about the famous storyteller as early as 1936, discussing a collaboration with Walt Disney, Joe Pasternak, and Rodgers and Hammerstein before organizing this production. It ended up being a lighthearted musical featuring original songs by Frank Loesser and four ballet sequences choreographed by Roland Petit of Les Ballets de Paris.Hans Christian Andersen is a Danish cobbler from a small town. Much to the dismay of his young assistant, Peter (Joey Walsh), he spends more time telling stories to the local children than making shoes. Eventually, the town leaders are tired of Hans’s filling their children’s heads with whimsical nonsense, so they send him packing for Copenhagen. In the big city, Hans gets thrown in jail for unwittingly advertising his services on a royal monument. However, Peter soon overhears the Royal Danish Ballet’s choreographer, Niels (Farley Granger), lamenting his need for a cobbler. The company bails Hans out so he can make pointe shoes for the temperamental prima ballerina, Doro (Zizi Jeanmarie). She entrances Hans, who is dismayed to learn she is married to Niels.
These two films similarly fictionalized their subjects’ lives, although “Weird” made its story darker while “Hans Christian Andersen” made its lighter. Both are about famously creative men, who are shunned at home but find fame elsewhere. Both feature many of the title characters’ beloved works yet fabricate the circumstances of their writing. Al and Hans both fall in love with a female performer, who inspires some of their best work while nearly destroying them. Ultimately, both men escape the woman’s dangerous influence by going home.
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The 1952 “Hans Christian Andersen” did not involve Disney, as Goldwyn originally hoped, but it started the brightening of Andersen’s legacy which Disney would finish in the 1980s. Because of this movie, I always thought of Hans Christian Andersen as a fun-loving storyteller who wrote charming tales, but his stories were very dark, macabre, and often weird. His personal life is also controversial. In contrast, Al Yankovic is depicted as a troubled pop star with a dark personal life in “Weird,” while in real life he’s a happily married Christian who abstains from drinking, smoking, and profanity. You can see those standards in his parodies and in this film, which is surprisingly wholesome for a recent release.Despite its title, “Weird” is one of the more intelligent films released in the last year, since it uses more cleverness than trendy garbage to get its laughs. The acting is very serious and, as a result, touching. However, like all modern releases, it’s tainted by the need to include unnecessary objectionable content, like suggestive scenes with Madonna, excessive “cartoon” violence, and a few disgusting things. As “Hans Christian Andersen” shows, avoiding these things makes movies much more entertaining for viewers of all ages.
