TIFF 2022 Review ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story has outdone itself with this truly weird biopic 

What’s more weird than Weird Al Yankovic? A whole film dedicated to him, in a good but weird way, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. He plays the accordion, makes parody song, with a rockin’ hairstyle, and can laugh at himself, which brought his way up to becoming a international celebrity.

A lot of the recent biopics tell the real life story of what these celebrities went through to get to where they are now. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story still shows the relationship that Weird Al had with family, friends, band, manager, etc, but it tells it in the most odd weird way, parody style. The film is full of nonsense, humour that makes no sense , and some fun cameos. What else can you expect from Funny or Die, who co-produced the film.

The best part is Daniel Radcliffe (Yes, The Harry Potter) who at first I was quite shocked, but once he came out with those curls and fake moustache, he really excels at every role he plays.  Definitely one of the most diverse actors, and the very few who was able to step away from his breakout role and show his versatility. Radcliffe displays all the hardships Al had to go through, but also makes us laugh by performing some of Al’s most fun parody songs like “Eat It” and”Another One Rides The bus”. 

Another supporting performance praise goes to Evan Rachel Wood, who plays Madonna. Not only does she look the part, but she gets into the character just as much as Radcliffe, and watching their performance together definitely makes this film worthwhile.

I didn’t know what to expect when watching this, I truly thought I’d be watching another typical biopic, instead I could not take my eyes of the screen watching the humorous Radcliffe deliver an amazing performance while learning about Yankovic’s career.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September but is now available to stream on the Roku Channel.

In Case you don’t have the Roku Channel

It is absolutely free to download, even though there are ads. You can add the Roku Channel to any Roku streaming device, Samsung Smart TV, or compatible Amazon Fire TV device. You can also download the app for iOS and Android to get the channel on your mobile device.

Watch the trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story below

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is now available to stream on The Roku channel