WEIRD AL YANKOVIC'S UHF

Weird Al Yankovic the best comedic artist of all time. What's not to like about him? He's funny, he's over the top,  he's just Weird Al. He comes up with the best song parody's that are so funny and clever that you can't help but laugh or sing along. Even the comedy songs he writes himself are roll on the floor with laughter. He's also known for bringing Polka into pop culture and is one of the very few well known musicians who plays the Accordion. He's not just a good artist, he's also a very funny comedic actor. Best example of that is his film...




 The film doesn't just have a straight forward story, it's also full TV sketches;  Weird Al's Daydreams; and it even has a Music video. Since there's so much to talk about,I'm going to break the review into parts and rate each segment individually.

THE MAIN PLOT

 George Newman (Weird Al Yankovic) is a daydreamer who's full of creative ideas but sadly is a failure in life. That all changes once he is given a bankrupt TV studio which he turns into the best TV channel in TV history, thanks to his creative mind and TV star Stanley the janitor(Michael Richards). Due to so much popularity, R.J. Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy) the owner of another big channel plans to pull the plug on George's channel, so his channel can be number 1 again.


Weird Al Yankovic is just as hilarious and over the top as he is in his Music Videos. Every scene he's in, he's funny as heck. His best scenes are his daydream scenes but will get to that later on. Is his acting good? Well, let’s admit we all know its Weird Al being Weird Al but that doesn't stop us from liking his performance. He aside from his goofy over the topness, still acts like the average every day guy who has his head in the clouds and there are times when we feel bad for him when he doesn't succeed even when he's being over dramatic, which your laughing but feeling bad for him at the same time, that takes good comedic acting to pull that off.


Michael Richards as the child like janitor Stanley is another "Laugh Out Loud" performance. This is one comedic performance where I can separate the actor from the character. When I first saw this film, I didn't know that was Kramer in a janitor costume, I thought it was some unknown actor. Richards (Just like Kramer on "Seinfeld") is the character. He's funny, he's annoying (In a fun way), he's innocent and he's lovable. His performance is so good that he sometimes upstages Weird Al. His best scenes is when he has his own TV show but will get to that later. My favorite scene is when he constantly annoys Fletcher's men by saying things only a child would say. What amuses me the most is, this was before he was Kramer on "Seinfeld"(Which he's best known as) and seeing him being funny before he got his well known character shows that he's a good comedic actor.


Kevin McCarthy as the villain of the film is one of the best comedic Villains I have ever seen. He's mean, he's nasty, he's over the top and there's nothing likable about him. This is one business man where you can't have a decent conversation with, without getting yelled at. You do one thing wrong, you're fired. When ever he's yelling or arguing with someone, he can be imitating but also funny at the same time, kind of like the Queen of Hearts in Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" for example. Sometimes when I hear him yell I except him to shout out the famous line from the film "Network" "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!". His performance also kind of reminds me of Leslie Nielsen in a way, if that's the idea for his character he did an awesome job. I'm not going to tell you what happens to him in the end but I will tell you it's one of the best downfalls to a villain I have ever seen in cinema history. If they showed Mr.Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life" losing to George Bailey in the end of the film, my guess is he would have the same reaction as the villain in this film.

Victoria Jackson as George's girlfriend Terri was pretty bad. We all know her best in "Saturday Night Live" who is decently funny but here she's not funny or useful. Her character is bland and it feels like they just through her in here to bring an unnecessary romantic struggle in the film. The only part in the romance I felt was Weird Al's performance, probably because we spend more time with him than we do with his girlfriend. This character and performance is so boring that you can just simply run the film without her.


David Bowe as George's best friend Bob is just as boring as his girlfriend. He's bland, he feels like a forced character, he's not funny and he just basically sits in his chair throughout the whole film while Weird Al gets the spotlight. Now to be fair, he does get a good laugh every once in awhile but that usually happens when he's with George. In all honesty, he’s really another character and performance you can run the film without.

As for the rest of the supporting cast, they’re funny and memorable. You got Stanley Brock as the gambling Uncle Harvey; Fran Drescher as the broadcasting reporter Pamela; Trinidad Silva as Raul the crazy Mexican animal show host; Billy Barty as the small cameraman Noodles; Vance Colvig Jr. as the bum; Anthony Geary as the weird mad scientist Philo; the Asian karate gang; Fletcher's henchman; and the off screen mobster Louie. They're all funny and likable; every one of them gives out a good laugh even the background people or the people who appear on the shows.

The story is good, they're a lot of great jokes that pop up everywhere, Weird Al is funny and the characters (with exception Jackson and Bowe) are memorable.

RATING FOR THE MAIN PLOT 4/5

THE TV SKETCHES


This is one of the many reasons why I find this film so funny. The commercials are funny, and parody the stuff we see on TV. The best commercial everyone remembers is the "Spatula City"commercial. A store that sells nothing but spatulas and you see people going crazy for spatulas and using them for special occasions and I'm not talking about barbecue's.  What the president that owns the company says is funny and the jingle is catchy while at the same time funny. I also like the parody on car sales commercials by having some over the top country guy with a big cowboy hat, telling people to come down to buy a car and he'll lower the price, get a good deal or say he'll do something over the top if you don't come down. There's also a funeral home commercial called "Plot R US" that I thought was ok but not as good as the others.

Then we have the fake Movie trailers which had me roaring with laughter. There's the trailer "Conan The Librarian" that parody's the Schwarzenegger film "Conan The Barbarian" where they have a Arnold look alike playing a violent barbarian who happens to be working in a modern today library. Then there's "Gandhi 2" and instead of seeing peaceful non violent Gandhi, he's a man of violence taking down criminals. It not only parody's Gandhi, it also parody's the film "Shaft" by having an action packed environment and playing similar music to the film.

The TV shows on the channel, they're funny and clever. The game show "Wheel of Fish" that the karate gang owns, is a clever parody on "Wheel Of Fortune" and ends with one of the films best lines. The show "Town Talk", a talk show where people constantly get into fights or get hurt always gets at least a chuckle out of me, and it's not just fighting it's also the guests they put on the show. The wild life show "Raul's Wild Kingdom" starts out as a normal show but then shows what a crazy person Raul is and how dangerous he is to animals. Then there's my personal favorite show "Uncle Nutsy's Clubhouse" starring Weird Al. What's funny about it is, it makes fun of those over the top children TV shows like "Howdy Doody" or "Pee Wee's Playhouse" by having a hyper and corkey host, a colorful environment, kids in the audience and having a mime clown as a sidekick who constantly gets hurt. This show also shows the many things that could go wrong in a kids show. 

The best out of all the TV sketches is the show that Stanley stars in who again is funny, full of energy and has the mind of a kid. I love how he interacts with the kids; I love how over the top he is; and I couldn't find one scene where I wasn't laughing with him. The scene that always grabs me is his "Life is like a mop" speech. It's a silly example but how he says it is true. He's telling people not to give up, take what life gives you and closes his speech by shouting "HEY, THESE FLOORS ARE AS DIRTY AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!". 

The other promos for the channel are funny but some of them are kind of dull but enough to make it as ok. The only show I didn't laugh at was the show "Secrets Of The Universe" because it only showed the title of the show instead of actually doing something like all the other shows. These sketches help make the film funny and are one of the many reasons why people remember this movie.

RATING FOR THE TV SKETCHES 4/5

GEORGE'S DAYDREAMS

These are the best parts of the film.





The first daydream is the films opening, which makes fun of the opening to "Raiders Of The Lost Ark". It at first looks serious but once we see Al's face things start getting crazy. The set designs are cool but look comical at the same time; it actually looks like something from one of his Music Videos. The humor is everywhere, it's in the background and foreground; it pops out at you out of nowhere; it can be cartoonish looking at points; it's basically similar to the "Naked Gun" films or the movie "Airplane". This whole opening is a great way to start the film; it's funny and epic at the same time and pulls you into the films comical atmosphere.




His second Daydream happens during the films climatic battle as he's running to save Stanley. It parody's the Rambo sequels and makes fun of the films action cliches. Just like the opening it's epic but funny at the same time. This has to be my favorite part in the film because it parodies the sequels so cleverly that it's all true of what they're parodying from the films. I also love Weird Al's performance as Rambo because his facial expression actually matches Stallones facial expressions in those films. This part is really the best part of the film. it's actioned packed; it's funny; it's clever; it has great pacing; and it's probably the best parody to an action film I ever saw (At least by far) The last Daydream is at the end but I won't tell you it. All I'll tell you is its good way to end the film but you're using a character who's in the film very little and is a plot device you can run without.

The daydream scenes are funny and epic but they play no part in the films plot and just slow things down, but you know what I don't care. It's true they are just added scenes that the film doesn't need but they add to the films tone and comic atmosphere. They are also one of the best movie parodies you're ever going to see and to be honest throwing these scenes in the movie actually flow very well and don't seem out of place, plus it also shows what kind of person George is, so they're not totally useless. They're another one of the main reasons why the films so memorable and why the film’s so funny.

RATING FOR THE DAYDREAM SCENES 4/5

THE MUSIC VIDEO

Since the film is starring a music artist, chances are they're going to sing. Weird Al doesn't sing much in the film but his songs can be heard in some scenes. In the scene when Stanley drives a little car on his show, you can hear Weird Al's instrumental song "Funzone" playing in the background. When Uncle Harvey's in the pool, he's listening to Weird Al's song "Let Me Be Your Hog". At the end credits you hear the films title song "UHF" sung by Weird Al Yankovic. Even though he doesn't sing throughout the film he was nice enough to sing at least one song, which became a Music Video and that Music Video is…

.

"MONEY FOR NOTHING/BEVERLY HILLBILLIES"


The song has the lyrics from the theme to Beverly Hillbillies sung to the tune of Dire Straits controversial song "Money For Nothing". How does it fit into the film? George is watching a rerun of "Beverly Hillbillies" and falls asleep and the music video begins.

The video is a lot identical to the Dire Straits Music Video. It has the same style; same animation; same pacing; and same shots. It's so identical that it's creepy. They even have the same animated dog from the original video. Just look at the characters they look just as similar as the mover guys. They also show a live action Weird Al Yankovic playing with a band, while neon lights are surrounding the instruments and head bands. I know what you're thinking; it's not a rip off that's what the videos suppose to be like.

Even though the video is played out the same way the Dire Straits Music Video is, Weird Al still threw in a few twists. Instead of singing "I want my MTV" they sing "Beverly Hillbillies" in the same tune. When Weird Al turns into a computer animated character, he's in shock and thinking to himself "What the heck". Instead of a mover singing the song, it's one of the characters from the show. In the live action part of the video, they make fun of the neon lights surrounding the instruments and the close up camera shots. He even alters the lyrics to the TV show to make it sound like the song he's parodying.

Even though it's as pointless as the daydream scenes in the film, it's still one of the main reasons why the films recognized. It's a good parody on a good song and is one of Al's best parodies of all time.

RATING FOR THE MUSIC VIDEO 5/5

MY FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE WHOLE FILM

Well aside from some of the bland characters, the comedic acting is great, especially from Weird Al Yankovic and Michael Richards. I am a bit disappointed that Al only has one song to sing in the film but then again the films more focused on its comedy and story than it is on his music career, which shows he's just trying to create a comedy, not a film based on his musical talents. Did he succeed? Yes, he proves that he's not just a comedic artist; he's a good comedic actor as well. After seeing this film, I wish he made more films or at least star in another comedy instead making a cameo. Oh well, I guess he shouldn't over due a good thing and stick with what he's good at. If you love Weird Al Yankovic or if you're fan of films in the style of the "Naked Guns" movies; or if you're a big fan of TV skit shows; or if you're just looking for a good comedy, defiantly check this film out.

RATING FOR THE WHOLE FILM 4/5