DVD Corner

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story 4K UHD Review

“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is a mostly funny spoof. 

No, director Eric Appel’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is not a biopic, but rather a spoof of biopics that blends in some facts with a lot of fiction. Given that Weird Al has made a career spoofing songs it seems only appropriate that his biopic would be a spoof of biopics. Anyway, the Al Yankovic and Eric Appel scripted story chronicles Al’s life from childhood to adulthood. The story covers his parents, career, how he got his first accordion, how making “My Bologna” changed his life, his partnership with Dr. Demento, Madonna using Weird Al to advance her career and Pablo Escobar (don’t ask).

For the first hour, the Roku Original film “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is a hilarious spoof of artist/band biopics. We all know biopics tend to follow a similar formula and Yankovic and Appel certainly exploit that here with a comical origin story, the usual insight into the artist’s rise to fame, and the artist’s personal struggles. Sure, this type of comedy has been done in a similar fashion with the deeply underrated “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” (which is the better movie), but the difference between ‘Walk’ and ‘Weird’ is that weird has some truths in it (as Yankovic has spoken about).

When ‘Weird’ leans into the fiction (particularly in the last half-hour), the movie goes off the rails a bit. The over-the-top Madonna and Pablo Escobar plotline just veered too off course for my liking, but some viewers may be drawn into the goofy outlandish events. 

Cast wise, Daniel Radcliffe does an admirable job stepping into Weird Al’s shoes. Speaking of Al, he has a great cameo himself (not to mention Radcliffe’s singing scenes are dubs by Al himself). On the subject of cameos, there are tons of them to be seen here by the likes of Jack Black, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Paul F. Tompkins, Quinta Brunson, Will Forte, Josh Groban, etc. Last, but not least there’s Evan Rachel Wood who shines as Madonna. Her chemistry with Radcliffe was a joy to watch.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.39:1 2160p With HDR and Dolby Vision. How does it look? The 4K Master is far and away the best the film has ever looked.

Audio Track: Dolby Atmos. How does it sound? A quality Atmos track all around. The music is especially noteworthy. 

Extras:
* Commentary by Al Yankovic and director Eric Appel on the 4K and Blu-ray.
* “Now You Know” lyric video.
* Blu-ray copy.
* Al Yankovic and Daniel Radcliffe on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
* Nearly 25 minutes of deleted/extended/alternate scenes hosted by Al Yankovic and Eric Appel.
* “The Making Of Weird”- A brief 4 minute featurette that sells the movie.
* Interviews with Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood and Eric Appel from Variety at the Toronto International Film Festival.
* “IMDB: A Plethora Of Cameos”- Eric Appel, Rainn Wilson and Al Yankovic talk about the cameos.
* Teaser, movie promos, and trailer.
* Interview with Weird Al and Eric Appel by The Wrap.

December 7, 2023 - Posted by nicklyons1 | 4K UHD Review | Biopic, Comedy, Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Madonna, Roku, Spoof, Weird Al, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story 4K UHD Review