I discovered Weird Al Yankovic in the best way. I was in 5th grade and was obsessed with two bands – The Doors and Queen. Queen released their album The Game, and my parents bought it for me. The song “Another One Bites the Dust” ran up the charts, and one night when I couldn’t sleep I pulled out my little white Radio Shack transistor radio. I was listening in bed. I heard a parody of it – Another One Rides the Bus. I couldn’t stop laughing. I had never heard a parody song before. I had seen parodies of films – in both my older brothers’ MAD magazines or in movies like Airplane! I had never seen a parody done in song form. A few weeks later, I was in a bike-a-thon to raise money for cancer. The woman checking me in saw that I had so many sponsors, from walking around the neighborhood going door-to-door, she said, “You could win this thing if you just ride the 8 mile course once or twice.”
I wanted that 1st place prize – a Schwinn 10-speed. On my crappy yellow Royce Union bike, I had ridden that course from 8 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m. I had gone over 60 miles, and each time you finished the course, they had gifts for you. I got a bunch of McDonald’s gift certificates, among other things. The last time I finished the course, they had 45 records of the Weird Al song “Another One Rides the Bus.” But the woman wouldn’t give me one! She said, “They’re only for people that are quitting. Are you quitting right now?”
I told her I was planning to do another two times around, and she said, “Well, we only have two records left, and we started with a lot. There won’t be any left by that time.”
I said, “Okay, fine. I’ll quit now.”
I still rode enough to end up winning 1st prize, but my legs were so sore, I had to walk my bike home (my mom refused to pick me up, but that’s another story for another time). I put the record on my crappy Lloyds record player, and was in heaven. Who knew the guy behind this would end up making millions and have a great career. And, if you want to watch this movie to see how it all began, and how he handled that career – well, you’re in for either a great treat or a slight disappointment. You see, just as comedians Norm MacDonald and Jim Carrey wrote autobiographies that were fictional, this movie is a sendup of the biopic genre. It’s something we have seen done before (Pop Star, Walk Hard), but this is a bit funnier than those. And knowing Weird Al wrote this, and watching Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliff with those goofy facial expressions, glasses, and crazy curls – makes it both hysterical and kind of a sweet tribute.
Director and co-writer Eric Appel did this parody, based on a “Funny or Die” trailer they did in 2010 (that one had Aaron Paul).
We start out hearing actor Diedrich Bader (the voice of Batman on many animated shows) as the voice of Al, and a young version of him that looks like The Wonder Years kid. Al is rushed to the hospital, and the doctor that revives him, was Lin-Manuel Miranda. That would be the first of many incredible cameos (I loved Thomas Lennon as a door-to-door accordion salesman; my wife spotted Conan O’Brien as Andy Warhol).
Al’s childhood is shown here as being horrible, and much like Elton John’s. Rainn Wilson (The Office) is inspired casting as Dr. Demento.
His mother is kind (Julianne Nicholson), and gets him that accordion he wants. His dad (Toby Huss) beats up the salesman that sold it to them. He had already berated young Al when he said his dream is to sing, and puts him on the spot at the dinner table saying, “Sing us a song, Mr. Bing Crosby!”
As the boy does a parody of “Amazing Grace” changing it to: Amazing grapes, how sweet the juice…
That was at a point in the movie where you’re wondering if they’re going to combine real facts with funny fiction.
Al goes out with the bad kids to a party. And what do you think will happen? Well, you have no idea, and it’s absolutely hysterical.
We see him move out and live with a group of friends, and when making a bologna sandwich and hearing The Knack on the radio – a song is born!
There’s a terrific pool party at Dr. Demento’s house. While most will be able to get who the guests are – Salvador Dali, Devo, Pee Wee Herman, etc. etc. etc. – it’s more fun trying to guess who the actors are playing those parts. It’s obviously a lot easier when you see Michael McKean (Spinal Tap, Laverne & Shirley) introduce him on stage, or comedian Patton Oswalt heckle him from a crowd; when they’re all dressed up as other celebrities, it’s a lot harder (and more fun).
I loved seeing underrated comedian Paul F. Tompkins as Gallagher (Tompkins did a Ray Liotta parody once that’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on the internet). Will Forte and Nat Faxon were fun as the record producers (it’s even more fun that they have wigs, for no reason whatsoever). Side note: Nat Faxon starred and wrote my favorite movie of 2013 – The Way Way Back.
Terrific stand-up comedian Demetri Martin played Tiny Tim, and Evan Rachel Wood did a great job popping her gum and seducing Weird Al, as Madonna. She’s intent on sleeping with Weird Al, to get him to do a parody of one of her songs.
The movie dragged a bit in the middle section, with things getting a tad repetitive. I was getting tired of some of the gags. Yet it ends strong, including the final title card that tells us what happens to Weird Al and Madonna. The closing credits have a new Weird Al song, where he sings about how that song is eligible for Oscar consideration, and he talks about the guys in the credits that he has to list, and which ones were nice. But as a Doors fan, I did think it was funny that when they showed the song listings (even with another fake out moment), they didn’t credit Jim Morrison for the drunken rant he did on stage, while the band played the Doors song “When the Music’s Over.”
Anyway, a good time was had by all. Well, my wife fell asleep on the couch at one point, but she was laughing when she was awake and watching.
3 stars out of 5.