"Weird: The Al Yankovic Story" Is More Than A Little Embellished, So Here Are The Few Things That Are Actually True
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is out now, and it's simply 108 minutes of absurd joy.
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You can watch it for free on the Roku Channel!
It stars Daniel Radcliffe and is a parody of the musical biopics that have become so popular in the last few years. Could you expect anything else from Weird Al?
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Here's a handy list of the things that are actually true in the movie, and which ones have been more than a little embellished:
1.TRUE: A door-to-door salesman did come to Al's house and sparked his interest in the accordion.
However, he was selling accordion lessons instead of an actual accordion, and Weird Al's father did not beat up the salesman like he did in the movie.
2.FALSE: His parents didn't support his music, and Al had to practice the accordion in secret. In reality, Mr. and Mrs. Yankovic were perfectly supportive of their son.
All the drama involving Al's dad destroying his accordion in a fit of rage was made up. One thing that wasn't made up was Al's mom banning him from listening to Dr. Demento's radio show.
3.TRUE: "My Bologna" was recorded in a public restroom, just not at a bus stop.
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It was actually recorded at in the bathroom of the college radio station where Al worked.
4.FALSE: "My Bologna" was Weird Al's first hit.
It was actually "Belvedere Cruisin'."
5.TRUE: Dr. Demento is a real person and was instrumental in launching Weird Al's career. He did not, however, come up with adding "Weird" to Al's name as the movie suggests.
Rainn Wilson plays Demento in the movie.
6.FALSE: Al's career trajectory was pretty much completely different from what the movie portrayed, starting with the fact that his roommates became his bandmates.
7.TRUE: The percussion on "Another One Rides the Bus" is actually from a Al's drummer, Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, hitting an accordion case as was shown in the movie.
8.FALSE: Al had drug and alcohol issues that caused a turbulent phase in his career.
9.TRUE: Oprah did interview Weird Al, but the real interview had a "slightly different vibe" from what the movie portrayed.
10.FALSE, of course: "Eat It" was written before "Beat It," and Michael Jackson's song is a parody of Weird Al's original.
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11.TRUE: The "Yankovic bump" is actually a thing.
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Yep! The original songs that Al parodied usually received a bump in sales.
12.FALSE: Madonna romantically pursued Weird Al so that he'd write a song parody of "Like a Virgin," and the two had a torrid romance.
You can assume every scene featuring Evan Rachel Wood's Madonna was entirely made up, even though it is true that Weird Al released "Like a Surgeon" as a "Like a Virgin" parody. In reality, Weird Al and Madonna met once and spoke for 45 seconds.
13.TRUE: The Hawaiian shirts, if not the excessive shirtlessness, are a staple of Weird Al's style over the years.
Daniel Radcliffe's Hawaiian shirts in the movie are open a lot more than Weird Al's have ever been, but let's chalk that up to creative license.
14.And finally, FALSE: Several truly outlandish scenes that obviously ever happened, but that I'm going to list out anyway so you get a sense of this movie's vibe.
– The huge celebrity pool party where Weird Al meets every major celebrity of the '80s and comes up with "Another One Rides the Bus" on the spot.
– Weird Al beat the Beatles to have the most singles in the Billboard Top 10.
– Weird Al was offered the roles of Indiana Jones and James Bond, but turned them down.
– Weird Al killed Pablo Escobar.
– Madonna had Weird Al Yankovic killed.
...all lies!
