The story is a biopic of the life of "Weird Al" Yankovic. OK, so it's not actually a biopic but a parody of a biopic, as Al is prone to do. This one follows the immense rise to fame of this talent who rocked the world with his music. Along the way he gets involved with Madonna and things get crazy from there.
Al has basically stated that the reasons he did this film were because of the biopics like Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody which both tell some truths about the lives of Elton John and Freddie Mercury, but some are fabrications. When Al realized it didn't matter if the facts were 100% true, he ran with it. The other reason is that he did a short for Funny or Die about twelve years ago which was basically this film but only a few minutes in length. He finally felt it was time to follow through and make the film that fans had clamored for.
The cameos in this film were so much fun. I won't give any away, so you can spot them, but right out of the gate there is a big one. It was also fun trying to figure out the personalities of the 1980s.
While I did enjoy this film a bunch, there were some areas where it felt a bit draggy. The first 1/3 of it was hilarious and my wife and I were laughing a bunch. Like any film, though, too much laughing out of the gate makes the momentum harder to keep up. So, the scenes with Madonna seemed like they took far too long to get through. If she had been a ten minute part of the film it probably would have been OK. Sadly, by the time her storyline was closed, the film was mostly over.
It was still a fun one, however. Knowing his 'real' story, it's fun to see how much was changed for this film. For example (non-spoiler), his parents were some of the most supportive and kind parents yet in the film they are played as the exact opposite. This trend continues throughout the fllm.
I will say I may be biased since I actually got to sing with Al on his tour a few years back. Sure, it was only for one song but he called me out to call Yoda and I performed so that was a highlight of my life! (And, unlike this film, this is a 100% true fact). We've also had the chance to go backstage to meet him and I met him many years ago for an autograph session back in California before he became massive.
Yes, I'll recommend this one. It was a lot of fun and free is a wonderful price. :)
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