Sophia Michaels
“Weird Al” Yankovic giddily injects his life story with all the overwrought music biopic cliches you can think of in the new trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. The movie will arrive on Nov. 4 on the Roku Channel.
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, the trailer shows how the sorta-biopic lends a self-serious tinge to the parody master’s story. Early on, his parents try to discourage his strange behavior and are shocked when police officers bring him home after catching him at a — god forbid — “polka party.” But driven by an insatiable urge to, as Al puts it at one point, “make up new words to a song that already exists,” the musician/comedian turns bologna into pop gold and rises to superstardom.
Things get even wilder from there, especially when Evan Rachel Wood shows up as Madonna and Al’s life becomes a blur of sex, drugs, and hubris that pushes his family and band away. But of course, no music biopic would be complete without a redemption arc — and you better believe Weird has got one of those, too.
Along with Radcliffe and Wood, Weird will co-star Rainn Wilson and Yankovic’s mentor, Dr. Demento, as well as Toby Huss and Julianne Nicholson as his parents, Nick and Mary. Quinta Brunson (as Oprah Winfrey), Will Forte, and Spencer Treat Clark also appear in the film. Eric Appel directed Weird and co-wrote the script with Yankovic. based on a script Appel and Yankovic co-wrote.
