Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

The film is a funny, egoless pop music phantasmagoria and one of the funniest movies of the year. The critic singles out the centerpiece pool party scene and Radcliffe’s committed, innocent-yet-arrogant performance for praise.

The knowingly over-the-top satirical biopic skewers its hero and the biopic form itself with supreme affection. The critic singles out the daffy-droll tone, the pool-party scene with celebrity cameos, and Radcliffe’s arc from dork to egomaniac for praise.

The uproarious sham biopic makes a joke of Yankovic’s own life and parodies the prestige biography genre. The critic singles out Radcliffe’s guileless, committed performance (and the film’s note-for-note parody style) for praise.

The spoof biopic entertainingly abandons reality for crackpot set pieces in the spirit of The Naked Gun, with Daniel Radcliffe hugely entertaining as Yankovic and standout pop milieu details.

The review calls the film brilliantly weird and a go-for-broke, effervescently enjoyable parody that takes the piss out of the music-biopic template in the spirit of Yankovic's work. It singles out the high joke-rate absurdity (like a Naked Gun film) and Daniel Radcliffe's committed, deadpan performance for praise, while noting the third-act energy dips slightly.

The critic praises the film's commitment to its absurd parody of music biopics, with Radcliffe delivering pitch-perfect comic timing and sincerity as Yankovic in a story that takes the genre's clichés to ludicrous extremes. She singles out the straight-faced delivery of ridiculous moments and Evan Rachel Wood's outsized Madonna as highlights in this rare comedy that works because it fully commits to the bit.

The review praises Daniel Radcliffe’s committed performance in this frequently exaggerated, often fabricated story of Yankovic’s rise to fame. It highlights the film’s irreverent take on biopic conventions while noting its comedic exaggerations.

The film takes biopic clichés to glorious heights of ridiculousness in a gleefully self-deprecating way, with Radcliffe perfectly embodying the bizarre-world Al through his endearing innocence and enthusiasm. It delights in anarchic absurdity, especially in the awards-show climax, though some elements like the Madonna subplot feel stale.

The critic calls it a relentlessly silly, wholesome parody of rock biopics that trashes the facts of Yankovic’s life in the spirit of his songs. It is funny and a welcome reminder of a pre-internet time when being a nerd was less ordinary, though a bit flabby in the second half.

The film works best when it leans into its title with absurdist tangents and absurdist comedy in the second half, especially scenes involving Madonna and Pablo Escobar. Radcliffe’s committed performance captures the performer’s nerdy exuberance, but the movie lacks the joke density of Yankovic’s music and runs longer than ideal.

The critic finds the film an alternative, tongue-in-cheek history of Yankovic's life rather than a faithful biopic, packed with silly, fabricated fun and strong comic performances from Daniel Radcliffe and Evan Rachel Wood, though some gags are overdone.

The film is a cheerfully slapdash, uneven spoof riff on music biopic tropes that offers little legitimate fact but benefits from game performances and a strong Madonna romance subplot.

The feature-length version doesn’t add much to the original joke and has limited appeal beyond diehards. The critic singles out the “Boogie Nights”-like party scene and the bizarre Madonna-Escobar digression for praise, while noting the repetitive faux-biography elements as a complaint.

The review describes the film as an impishly ambitious parody of rock biopics that has a blast mocking genre conventions early on but eventually runs out of gas with increasingly outrageous gags without comparably strong payoffs; it is a niche, hit-or-miss Funny Or Die production.

The critic finds the film disappointingly not weird enough and more like an impostor than a true parody, struggling to sustain laughs over 108 minutes despite strong individual bits and Radcliffe’s committed performance. It feels like it could have used more of the real Weird Al’s cleverness and unpredictability.

The critic finds the spoof biopic a long, slow trudge through parody musical clichés with little comedy, calling it laboriously unfunny and pointless despite some decent walk-on gags.

The critic praises the film's daffy anti-biopic approach that imagines an alternate reality where Weird Al's uncool novelty act dominates pop culture and celebrates eccentric cult heroes. They single out the exaggerated spoof of biopic clichés and the sincere core that elevates the lowest common denominator to artistic heights.

The critic calls it the perfect antidote to glossy Hollywood music biopics, praising its surreal, mostly fictional approach, Radcliffe's winning performance as a goofy high-schooler who wins the lottery, and the quirky cameos that make it a cult classic in the making. They single out the constant mock-veneration of Al's lyrical prowess as overdone and tiresome.

The critic calls it a fun, intoxicatingly charming parody that excels at blending reality and fiction while skewering biopic tropes, with the film living and dying on its lead performance. The one thing singled out for praise is Daniel Radcliffe's 10,000% commitment, including his precise lip-syncing and sincere delivery amid the absurdity.

The critic praises the film as a wildly entertaining, intentionally inaccurate parody of rock biopics that applies Weird Al's musical approach to the genre itself, delivering ridiculous fun with strong cameos despite some hit-or-miss humor.

The critic praises the film as a charming and hilarious biopic parody that succeeds by leaning into absurdity and the joy of its cast, especially Daniel Radcliffe's committed performance as Yankovic. The one thing singled out for praise is Radcliffe's energetic, appreciative portrayal that honors the comedian's work.

The critic views the film as a spoof of musical biopics that elevates clichés to mythic extremes through a polka instrument, with Daniel Radcliffe delivering demented magic in the lead role. They praise the cartoony humor, cameos, and self-deprecating wish-fulfillment tone but note it struggles to sustain momentum after the halfway point.

The critic describes the film as a difficult-to-categorize fictional biopic and parody that succeeds as an absurdist musical tale buoyed by earnestness, with Radcliffe's sincere performance making the accordion obsession believable and Evan Rachel Wood's Madonna a highlight. They single out some creative choices as weak, including a questionable fat suit, but recommend it for fans of the absurd or Weird Al.

The critic calls the film a delightfully ludicrous parody of a biopic that runs wild with absurdity and hysterical gags. They single out Daniel Radcliffe's committed performance as the best work of his career while noting the narrative begins to drag after a brisk start.

The critic finds the parody biopic equally clever and tiresome, noting its strong performances and fun premise but criticizing how the repetitive gags and overplayed gimmick wear thin, especially the extended Madonna relationship. The one thing singled out for complaint is the film's tendency to repeat the same joke until it becomes exhausting.

The critic finds the film starts strong as a self-aware parody of biopics and Weird Al's persona but loses its way after about 30 minutes when it shifts into darker, sillier territory involving stereotypes and violence that undercuts the comedy.