The film “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” drew laughter and applause from the audience at the Toronto Film Festival, during its world premiere this Friday (9/9). Although screened at the midnight screening, the film, which stars Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as comedian “Weird Al” Yankovic, kept the audience awake and laughing the entire time. The reviews the next morning were also all positive, without exception.
The real Yankovic, present at the premiere, admitted that almost nothing happened in the film and was not allowed to use the names of any of the celebrities portrayed there. “I’m surprised the lawyers allowed us to get away with this film, frankly,” he said. “But they shrugged, ‘They’re all public figures,’ so we moved on.”
“I hope this confuses a lot of people,” he continued. “We want to take them along a path and think: is this a real biopic? Is this the real story? The film starts off quite normal. Then it gradually goes off the rails.”
The choice of Radcliffe for the role of Al Yankovic was an example of the confusion created by the production, since the two are not at all alike. And the actor himself acknowledged this, in an interview with the festival channel after the session. “When they asked me, I thought, ‘Why me? There are a lot of other people who look more like Al,'” the actor said. “Then, when I read the script, I said, ‘Oh, I get it.'”
“When you read the script, you understand that Weird Al’s biopic might just be like that, a parody of the idea of ​​musical biopic,” Radcliffe added.
It makes perfect sense to remember that “Weird” Al Yankovic became famous as a parody of hit songs. Thanks to this, he became the best-selling comic artist of all time. Winner of five Grammys, its 2014 release “Mandatory Fun” was the first comic album in history to debut at No.
One of Weird Al’s biggest hits is “My Bologna”, a parody of The Knack’s song “My Sharona”. It was also one of the hardest songs Radcliffe had to learn for the film, as he had to play it on the accordion, Yankovic’s original instrument. “Probably about a month passed between me and learning the verse of ‘My Bologna’ and the chorus, so my girlfriend was living in perpetual hell,” Radcliffe explained at the production press conference.
Radcliffe says he had to learn to play the accordion for the film. “Al emailed me some accordion lessons,” Radcliffe said. “And, you know, I did what I could. It’s a very difficult tool. It makes it look very easy … it was fun to try.”
“And I’d stay in the trailer next to him while he exercised,” joked actress Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld”), who plays singer Madonna, Al’s “girlfriend” in the film. Their relationship never happened. but that didn’t stop the film from showing them as a couple.
The pseudobiographic film was written by Yankovic himself in collaboration with Eric Appel. The two had already made a short film in 2010 for the channel “Funny of Die” telling a fictionalized version of the life of the comedian, who at the time was played by Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”). As he did in the short film, Eric Appel is also directing the film, produced by Funny or Die.
The cast also includes Toby Huss (“Dickinson”), Julianne Nicholson (“Lakers”) and Rainn Wilson (“The Office”).
“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” will be released on November 4th on the US Roku platform.
Watch the audience reaction below.
This was my first # TIFF22 showing of the midnight madness and I think it was GREAT !! One of the best crowds I’ve ever seen a movie with! Standing ovation for everyone at the end. Such a fun time! #StrangeAlYankovic pic.twitter.com/vwhi2tdIf9
– Matt Neglia @TIFF (@NextBestPicture) September 9, 2022
Source: Terra
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
