UHF 1989

[3.3/10] There’s an old chestnut from Weird Al Yankovic himself about where the peak of his musical career is. According the accordion-playing parodist of record, his best album is “whichever one you listened to when you were in middle school.” Weird Al has had the kind of longevity that makes him far more than a passing adolescent fad, but that joking line has the recognition that his approach to comedy finds particular resonance with a particular crowd, even if it can kickstart years and years of appreciation. (And hey, it’s accurate for me personally -- shout out to “Running With Scissors”!)

But the double-edged sword of being a parodist is that while Weird Al himself is timeless -- managing to update and adjust his style to reflect whatever the sound of the day is -- his material inevitably becomes dated, to the point that his spoofs can eventually become better known than the songs they were parodying. TV Tropes has a whole webpage about it.

That’s what struck me UHF, which is an uncharacteristic slog from the usually nimble and light offerings from Weird Al. Everything about it feels very specifically calibrated to a particular pop cultural moment in 1989, and that means that thirty years later, everything about it feels dated and irrelevant. Sure, Indiana Jones and Rambo and maybe even The Beverly Hillbillies are still possibly iconic enough to spur some recognition when spoofed, but almost nothing in UHF seems crafted to stand the test of time.

That’s not so bad. Comedies in particular are almost inevitably of the times in which they’re made and harder to translate across generations. If they can spark some laughs in the theaters, then it’s not necessarily a sin a comic film doesn't necessarily hold up three decades later. But Weird Al’s thin, zany movie spoofs have all the cutting humor of a modern day Friedberg/Seltzer flick, doing little more than recognizing that certain prominent films exist and tacking on a thin layer of looniness.

That’s the other big problem in UHF. Weird Al’s humor seems aimed squarely at that middle school crowd. The film as a whole amounts to something of a live action version of an early 1990s Nickelodeon cartoon. There’s people randomly exploding, lots of pratfalls and physical humor, and plenty of random slimy substances being sluiced and splashed around. There’s some discomfiting casual racism that you can try to set aside as a product of its time, but the film always goes for the broadest, most obvious gags. At times, Al’s absurdist bent comes through and wins the day, but often it comes across as zaniness for the sake of zaniness.

And the last big issue with UHF is the same one that also befalls 90% of comedies that spin-off from sketch shows -- that being able to deliver comedies in three-to-seven minute chunks doesn't mean that can translate into a ninety minute movie. UHF is shaggy beyond belief, more of an excuse for a series of wacky skits and scenes and cutaway gags than any kind of unified story.

That can work in some contexts (see also: Mel Brooks) but your material has to be consistently good enough to stand on its own in isolation, and UHF’s sketches are hit-and-miss at best. Some of Al’s scenes seem well-calibrated to the YouTube age, and might be more fun with the gems experienced as isolated clips, but strung together they quickly become exhausting.

What’s odd is that the film has a decent spine to build its comedy around. The premise is that Weird Al’s character, George Newman, is constantly unemployed, but thanks to his Uncle’s gambling winnings, gets to run a local, little-watched television station. George tries to turn the station into a working enterprise, and just when things seem their worst, he gives a show to his janitor (Michael Richards), that turns out to be surprise hit. Eventually, George runs more unconventional programming that earns the ire of the rival network affiliate but wins the hearts and minds of the town.

That’s a damn good setup for a comedy, with plenty of room to squeeze in all the pop culture riffs and goofy asides that Weird Al is known for. Sure, there’s a tacked on love story that’s too slight to amount to anything worthwhile, but what 1980’s comedy can’t you say that about? But rather than capitalizing on the fun of that premise, UHF just sags and zags until it’s run out the clock, with no momentum from one part of the story to another. The movie itself is pretty rudderless, treating that plot as an afterthought, which makes the comic scenes seem ultimately pointless and disconnected.

It also doesn't help that crafting outstanding parody songs doesn't really prepare you to create actual characters. While Weird Al himself can skate by on a variation of his own goofy persona, there’s essentially no other interesting or even two-dimensional characters in the whole film. The worst offenders are a pair. One is R.J. Fletcher, the generically evil, maniacal asshole of a rival station owner who does nothing but scream, mug, and meet a standard issue karmic end after hatching any number of ridiculous plots. The other is Stanley Spadowski, a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards who is so unbelievably extra that it was exhausting just watching him. Spadowksi is meant to be the lovable goofball of the film (to the extent everyone in the whole cast isn’t meant to be the lovable goofball) but he’s too much and too annoying in almost every scene he inhabits.

It’s hard to overstate how much of a tiresome disappointment UHF is. Weird Al’s comedy is, if you’re like me or anyone else who’s cued up one of his tracks in his decade-spanning career, something you grew up with. He’s more than proven himself as an incredibly versatile musician and parodist without compare. But when he tries to translate those talents to the silver screen, the result is something that could only generate laughs if you were still twelve years old (preferably in 1989), where you can stomach ninety minutes of randomly-assembled and unmotivated zany schtick from paper-thin, broadly drawn characters who flail and flop but never do much to indicate why you should care, let alone laugh.

(8-ish / 10) Most movies don't age well. There's a long, storied review pointing out the poorly aged parts of UHF. "What a travesty, it isn't a critical darling!"

In the context of today's media, everything has to make a point (which is a fact equally bemoaned by one of the last hurrahs of Drawn Together). UHF... won't make much of a point about anything if you're looking for that. It won't dare you to reconsider how we think about the world. You probably won't get all the one-liners done in the style of actors who originally said them. This isn't a hipster thing. This is a direct statement to the crowd more likely to watch it on Youtube than VHS.

But what the movie will do is entertain you for its span if you stop looking for something deep and brilliant and just appreciate the simple appeal of the humor. There's no subversive meaning. The most clever moment in the film is an exchange between the main character and the janitor:

(Approximately)
Janitor: Something on your mind?
Lead: You don't want to know.
Janitor: Uh - thinking hard Why did I ask?

What there is will be simple humor that is relatable and doesn't require a degree from the School of Arts to appreciate. A movie that doesn't really bother to preach to you and just focuses on being something for which you can turn off your brain and let it control the vertical and horizontal. And zany, off the wall, exaggerated characters that will remind you that Weird Al is someone we should all be thankful is in the world, and equally thankful is one-of-a-kind.

If you find Rick and Morty brilliant but unfunny... or you don't quite get Seinfeld, I suppose... you'll probably appreciate this movie. Just remember to turn your brain off and tell yourself: It's just a movie, and that's all it needs to be.

First time sharing it with my sons. They're old enough to level-up, so to speak, so we're finally starting to move beyond Disney and test out some fun stuff.

This one's a virtual sugar-rush of wacky ideas, pulsing lights, loud music and general unbridled zaniness. In other words, a fine representation of Weird Al Yankovic at the height of his powers and a direct hit for twin seven-year-old boys. At heart, it's a loose collection of skits and gags in the spirit of Amazon Women on the Moon or Kentucky Fried Movie, but the humor is generally cleaner and there's just a bit more plot to hold it all together. The central idea of Yankovic in charge of a struggling little TV station, complete with cut-rate production standards and a DIY ethos, opens up all sorts of possibilities and wipes out any need to segue. We're just watching the next commercial / promo / live show; it's that simple.

Al's wide connections in the entertainment industry, and particularly in the world of stand-up comedy, also land the film a seriously loaded supporting cast. Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson and Emo Philips all make memorable appearances (Al even wrote a part for MST3k's Joel Hodgson, who declined the role), but it's a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards who really steals the show as an upbeat, energetic janitor with a magnetic personality. Several skits fall on the wrong side of cheesy, and Al himself doesn't always hit a home run as the leading man, but those are mere speed bumps. Small price to pay for the really funny bits.