TV Pirada

UHF is a story about a man who gets to have a Television Station. It is hilarious in most of the scenes. The villain is also so funny, and never really gets credited most of the time people watch this film.

Weird Al stars as a wacky guy who always has many funny ideas for television and movies and many other things. The real show-stopper in this movie is Raul's Wild Kingdom, you have to see it for yourself. The bad-guy works for the competing station, which had higher ratings.

Some parts of this film are not that funny, but stupid. If you are a big fan of Weird Al you'll love this film. And if you aren't then you will still love it. This film is for everyone.

Rated PG-13

What I think it should be rated and why: PG-13 for some crude and sexual humor, brief language, and some comic violent images.

Weird Al Yankovic's only excursion into film making proved to be a solid effort on his part. With an off-beat story such as this, the frizzy haired patron of pop polka proves his acting is adequate enough to carry a film such as this. While I feel there could have been more Weird Al songs, the comedy wasn't lacking. Michael Richards had his best role ever as Stanley Spadowski the janitor. All of the children's show sequences were hilarious. While this film isn't for all, it was certainly a movie which I can enjoy on many occasions. 6.8/10

I smiled a lot. Overall, this funny movie is a classic.

Michael Richards battling a gang of mobsters with a mop and a staplegun. A clown being smashed with a frying pan, then force-fed dog biscuits. Emo Phillips accidently slicing off his thumb with a tablesaw. And Fran Drescher. Yup, I think it's safe to say that this movie has everything, folks!

"Weird Al" Yankovic's first (and only) movie is everything you would expect from this underappreciated comic genius. It has the same goofy charm as a Weird Al record, and works as an effective visual representation of what Al's music is all about. As you would expect, UHF contains plenty of movie parodies, all of which are spot-on and generally harmless. Die-hard fans can also look forward to seeing a wide array of "Al-isms" like Twinkie-Wiener Sandwiches, detailed rants about bizarre nonsense, usage of the word "weasel", et cetera.

Casual viewers will find the good (U-62) vs. evil (Channel 8) story a bit ho-hum and the humor a little too... Well, a little too weird. But let's face it: this film wasn't made to tell a captivating love story or to inspire us with biting social commentary. It's an excuse for using a new medium to show Al doing what Al does best: being himself. And, as all of us devoted fans can agree, we couldn't possibly ask for anything more! LONG LIVE MR. YANKOVIC!

It's very telling that I had to look 15 pages deep into the user comments to find one negative review of this movie. And the negative reviews were from insufferable snots.

This movie made me laugh as a teenager, but it also makes me laugh as a fully grown adult. Does that mean the humor is dumb or sophomoric? Not necessarily. What exactly is "adult humor" anyway? Does it necessarily need to contain graphic depictions of sex and generous uses of profanity to be considered sophisticated and adult?? I contend that it does not, and I cite UHF as an example.

The laughs here are genuine, and they come from lack of pretentiousness and an honest feeling that one need not take oneself too seriously at any given moment. Al lets us know that it's OK to make fun of yourself as well as the rest of society. Much of what he does is self-deprecating, and UHF is no exception. He doesn't stand around making fun of others and establishing an air of superiority over the rest of society. As George Newman, he becomes the everyman, infusing much of his own personality along with his on-stage comedic persona. And he's not afraid to kick himself around and then proceed to pull himself up via his own bootstraps. Nobody else has to be hurt.

Plot has never been a big necessity in these spoof/parody movies. "The Naked Gun," "Airplane," "Top Secret," "Johnny Dangerously," and many others have had the most skeletal of plots. Cop must find and bring to justice bad guy who shot his friend. Burned out ex-pilot must save aircraft when crew dies. Rock and roll star must overthrow Nazi plot. Mobster must overcome those who wish to take him down. And in "UHF" we have Loser Man must save TV station from evil network exec. The plot is not important; it's just a vehicle to get us from laugh to laugh and set up the next joke.

UHF's comedy, though basic, rings true, and if you'll drop all of your pretentious airs, you'll get it. (We all know you're not nearly as sophisticated as you think you are anyway.) Who among us can keep from laughing while Raul teaches poodles to fly? Who can stifle a chuckle when Stanley is doing... well... doing just about everything he does in this film? Al admits in his commentaries and interviews that "UHF" is no "Citizen Kane." But that's the beauty of it. There's nothing complex here. It's all about the laugh, and there's where this movie really scores.