# Weird Al Yankovic biopic coming **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 18, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019 "2022-01-18T21:30:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/21 "2022-11-05T15:50:43Z")
> [@TimfromNapa](#): > > I wonder who is playing Dr. Demento? Turns out it’s Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight Schrute. And he did a fine job. Payton Oswalt had a cameo as a concert-going heckler. I really enjoyed it. Evan Rachel Wood was an inspired choice for Madonna. And, hey…if you can’t trust a guy with a “Weird Al” avatar, who _can_ you trust? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/22 "2022-11-05T15:53:26Z")
The movie was a mess though. Strong start, very weak middle and a not very strong ending. Acting was generally solid throughout. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I hear there is a campaign to get Patton Oswalt. Ironically Patton Oswalt had a cameo in the movie, but Rainn Wilson actually looked like Dr. Demento, so great casting. So many cameos. That was fun at first. Especially at the party. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/23 "2022-11-05T16:00:03Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > The movie was a mess though. Strong start, very weak middle and a not very strong ending. Acting was generally solid throughout. I disagree. It started off weird and got weirder as it went and I really liked the ending. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/24 "2022-11-07T02:11:26Z")
It was funny, not great. The sequence with Pablo Escobar was very ill-advised. It had its moments but derailed the primary storyline and resulted in Madonna suddenly being gone for most of the rest of the picture in a disconnected manner, which was jarringly pointless and took away one of the funniest things in the movie. The joke about “Eat It” just killed me. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/25 "2022-11-07T02:45:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The joke about “Eat It” just killed me. No more parodies! Just original songs! ---
**Author:** ![Mortimus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/26 "2022-11-07T03:17:12Z")
Just finished watching it. Given comments here and elsewhere I was expecting a laugh riot. I did get a few belly laughs, mostly at the “cameos” by various “stars”. Overall, I thought it was mildly amusing at best. It was too absurd and too hard to suspend disbelief to be hilariously funny. Wife thought so too, she left the room to read rather than finish the movie with me. I’m not at all familiar with Weird Al’s real life story. It’s very obvious that much of the movie is fiction sprinkled with a few bits of reality. I just have to wonder how much was real. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/27 "2022-11-07T03:46:55Z")
Uh, about 1 percent. It’s a parody of biopics. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/28 "2022-11-07T04:00:53Z")
It was about on a level with three or four SNL sketches stuck together except for two things. Daniel Radcliffe was good Evan Rachael Wood was brilliant ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/29 "2022-11-07T05:15:28Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Daniel Radcliffe was good > Evan Rachael Wood was brilliant That’s why I was disappointed Wood vanished for a long time. She was hysterical, and her and Radcliffe played off each other incredibly well. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/30 "2022-11-07T05:19:05Z")
> [@Mortimus](#): > > I’m not at all familiar with Weird Al’s real life story. It’s very obvious that much of the movie is fiction sprinkled with a few bits of reality. I just have to wonder how much was real. Essentially none. In truth, his life story would make a **terrible** movie. He’s had no controversies, no drug addictions, no arrests, no major life struggles of any sort. He has been married to the same woman for twenty years. He became extremely successful very early in life - he was extremely famous and a millionaire well before he turned 30 - so he never had a long, difficult road to fame, and has remained successful ever since. He’s beloved by everyone. The movie was in a way also a gag about that. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/31 "2022-11-07T05:35:17Z")
I remember his behind-the-music special the tags for it were him saying "well they’re doing one on me … its jumped the shark " and welcome to the most boring expose you’ll ever see in the opening The closest thing he’s had to any controversy wasn’t even his fault and that was the coolio gangsters’ paradise incident where coolio said no so al told the record company to can it and they released it anyways and coolio got pissed and said a bunch of crap for which he apologized for being a dick years later … ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/32 "2022-11-07T12:44:38Z")
> [@Mortimus](#): > > It was too absurd and too hard to suspend disbelief to be hilariously funny. Given Al’s broad, parodic style of comedy, I wouldn’t go into it expecting to suspend disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/33 "2022-11-07T19:16:35Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > I remember his behind-the-music special the tags for it were him saying "well they’re doing one on me … its jumped the shark " and welcome to the most boring expose you’ll ever see in the opening I recall when the show was going to commercial, they showed a clip of Al bawling into his hands, saying “and then, my fifth album… only went gold… instead of platinum! I had to settle for the medium-sized Jacuzzi! Ahhhh!!!” Then he stopped and looked at the camera and said “Is that the kind of thing you’re looking for?” ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/34 "2022-11-07T19:18:16Z")
He’s a national treasure. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/35 "2022-11-07T19:22:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > In truth, his life story would make a **terrible** movie. He’s had no controversies, no drug addictions, no arrests, no major life struggles of any sort. He has been married to the same woman for twenty years. He became extremely successful very early in life - he was extremely famous and a millionaire well before he turned 30 - so he never had a long, difficult road to fame, and has remained successful ever since. He’s beloved by everyone. The movie was in a way also a gag about that. I agree with all of this. I think that the only major drama (not controversy) from his adult life was the sudden deaths of both of his parents in 2004, due to carbon monoxide poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/36 "2022-11-07T19:32:41Z")
I met Al in Vegas, at the After-party for the Porno Awards. That was surreal. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/37 "2022-11-07T19:46:27Z")
his the biggest controversy? his record companies didn’t get or care for his sense of humor …they were bugging him for months for a holiday song and while irritated he gave them one but apparently Xmas at ground zero wasn’t the Christmas song they were looking for …and let him know about it But they still released it tho ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/38 "2022-11-07T19:54:14Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Ironically Patton Oswalt had a cameo in the movie I read somewhere that Oswalt was supposed to be Dr. Demento but he broke his leg right before filming. The filming only lasted like a month and their budget was tiny. I guess that’s why the put Oswalt in anyway in a stationary role. > [@nightshadea](#): > > where coolio said no so al told the record company to can it and they released it anyways and coolio got pissed This is briefly referenced in the movie when Al wins an award. My favorite cameo was Emo Philips as Dali. Does anyone know if Weird Al has had basically the same band all along? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/39 "2022-11-07T19:59:41Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Does anyone know if Weird Al has had basically the same band all along? Largely, yes. Jim West (guitar), Steve Jay (bass), and Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz (drums) have been with him since the '80s. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019/40 "2022-11-07T21:49:03Z")
[Paraphrased] Al: Why didn’t you tell me you could play? Guitarist: It didn’t seem relevant up to this point. I loved the movie. Is Daniel Radcliffe really that buff or was it a costume/CGI/makeup etc? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-biopic-coming/958019.md?page=3)