The composers for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story discuss how the film’s score is similar to Cobra Kai‘s. Directed by Eric Appel, the satirical biopic is slated to debut exclusively on Roku this Friday, November 4. Starring Harry Potter‘s Daniel Radcliffe as the titular Yankovic, Weird is based on a Funny or Die video posted in 2010. The video served as a trailer for a then-fictional Yankovic documentary, was directed by Appel himself, and starred Breaking Bad‘s Aaron Paul. However, Appel brought the idea back to life over a decade later after a string of successful musical biopics found success in Hollywood, and the full-length feature, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, was born.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story also features an ensemble cast. The list includes Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna, Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento, and Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey. Weird follows Al Yankovic, the jack-of-all-trades singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, actor, and author, throughout his storied career. Although biographical, the film is more of an embellished, comedic, loosely-based recount of the performer’s life. However, Yankovic has put his stamp of approval on Weird, even appearing as Tony Scotti in the trailer.
Ahead of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’s premiere, composers Zach Robinson and Leo Birenberg sit down with Screen Rant to discuss the film and reveal its score has musical similarities to that of Cobra Kai‘s. The pair works together on the Netflix series and has previously joined forces for many blockbusters such as Frozen, The Hangover sequels, Hot Tub Time Machine, and Ant-Man. However, it is Cobra Kai that seems to be the most comparable to Weird in terms of score. Check out what they have to say below:
Zach Robinson: We say this all the time, where we approach both the score for Cobra Kai and for Weird with utter sincerity. I think with Weird, it’s especially so, because our direction really was to play it as straight as possible. The movie is a parody, but we’re in on the parody. The score is not telling you to laugh, “Ha, ha, ha,” at point A, point B, point C. The music is supposed to really present itself as this sincere score to an American hero à la Forrest Gump or Rudy, or something like that. And with Cobra Kai, it’s a similar thing. We approach it from a place of sincerity and love, and we’re never making fun of it, but we go insanely hard, and that is what we did on Weird. We were like, “We’re really going to go as hard as possible into that -“
Leo Birenberg: ” – Nineteen-ninety-four Robert Zemeckis movie vibe.”
Zach Robinson: Yes. Exactly.
How Sincerity Helps Weird’s Humor Hit Harder
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Although Weird is an outrageous parody of the performer’s career and pokes fun at itself throughout, this does not necessarily mean the music has to be just as absurd as its characters and plot line. In fact, as Robinson and Birenberg point out, Weird‘s protagonist and story are funny enough on their own, but, in order for the jokes to land, there needs to be a sense of seriousness in the tone of the music to contrast against the ridiculousness of its script. While Yankovic is over-the-top and strange at times, his sincere and charming approach to making music needs to be highlighted in order for the movie’s more humorous moments to hit harder, which Robinson Birenberg made sure to do.
In addition, as the composers discuss, their approach takes a cue from their work on Cobra Kai. Although comedic at times, Cobra Kai‘s score does not undermine when serious or tense situations play out on-screen. While Cobra Kai has more dramatic moments than Weird, it’s important for the music to be self-aware of what’s going on in a scene. As Robinson and Birenberg share, the point isn’t to cue the audience to laugh; it’s to be part of the reason why they laugh. While Weird: The Al Yankovic Story has yet to hit Roku, it will be fun and hilarious to see how it all comes together.
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