In 2010 Funny or Die made a fake trailer for a Weird Al biopic. The idea for an expanded version was shopped around before being announced as a Roku original earlier this year. Many of the scenes and gags from the original fake trailer made it into the new movie.

The original trailer figured out the key to making a Weird Al biopic. An artist who made songs parodying popular songs has to have a biopic that parodies other biopics, a genre ripe for skewering. They are often a hagiography in visual form with many moments either wholly made up or shaped to fit the narrative. This is a potentially fun sandbox for someone to play in.

Daniel Radcliffe does a great job playing Weird Al. He is completely committed to the role and to the bit. He fully gets what this project is. The supporting cast is stacked with great actors and comedians. You’ll spend much of the movie in Leo DiCaprio mode pointing at the screen. There is a scene at Dr Demento’s pool party that parodies Boogie Nights and is stacked with cameos.

Weird never drags or over stays its welcome. It continues to up the comedy ante until the end. I won’t get into specifics but the way the film ends is audacious and perfect.  It stays funny until the very end. Literally.

Who would have thought that a Roku Original could rank among the better movies of the year. I mean, what the hell even is a Roku Original?! The movie is available to watch for free on the Roku app. All you need to do is download the app to watch it. That’s it!

Highly recommended