The Compleat Al – “Weird Al” Yankovic (2014)

The Compleat Al – “Weird Al” Yankovic (2014)

This hammed-up supposed life story documentary of the accordion-playing master of musical parody and rock ’n roll comedy was evidently originally seen on TV, because it has an opening credit for CBS/Fox. That explains the 4:3 ratio image and the fact that Al looks fairly young in the videos. It’s true that his father was an inveterate 8mm filmer, so there was plenty of footage from baby Al to teenager to select from in the documentary.

It purports to start with his childhood years, then his high school and college years, and how he began his rise to celebrityism. But you can still get some historically correct information about Weird Al, sort of between the lines. Thru the documentary there are clips from his AL-TV series on MTV, shots from his trip to Japan, and a really hilarious dramatization of how he requested permission from Michael Jackson to create his “Eat It” parody, (as he claims he does for all his parodies). This is followed by the “Eat It” video, which I had never seen, having heard only the audio of it. And that’s just one of the Yankovic music parodies included in this documentary. Others include “Like a Surgeon” (a takeoff on the Madonna hit), “Dare to be Stupid” (a parody of Devo), “I Lost on Jeopardy,” “Ricky,” “I Love Rocky Road,” and “This Is The Life.”  His physical parody of the crazed rock star, even banging his accordion up against the big speakers and then setting it on fire a la Jimi Hendrix, are a kick and half. The sketches of the problematic music and promotion business are a bit corny but I sympathize with his problems there.

While the music videos are the best thing here, this documentary might stimulate you to order a few of the Weird Al CDs, although I’m not familiar with the original models for his more recent parodies, so I wouldn’t find them as hilarious.

—John Henry