Film #059 - UHF (1989)
UHF marked “Weird Al” Yankovic’s one and only true foray into the world of feature film making. Poised as a breakthrough film, with preview audiences rating it highly, the film instead performed very poorly at the box office, buried under the avalanche of Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Lethal Weapon 2, Back to the Future 2, Ghostbusters II, etc., etc. * It also helped speed along the demise of Orion pictures, who were kind of hoping Al could pull them better numbers than their marquee auter, Woody Allen, was pulling those days.
Frankly, UHF just caught a bad break. It is an extremely well conceived and executed film and well deserves the cult following it has aquired in the years since its disappointing initial reception. The plot, involving a couple of neer-do-wells taking over a low-level UHF station and taking on the big network station, is hardly the stuff of legend. But this standard setup gives Al license to parody just about anything from music to television to film. Interspersed throughout are his trademark parodies and comedic songs that help keep things moving.
Al proves to be a decent actor, if a bit affected. Since he co-wrote the film (with director and long-time manager Jay Levy), he naturally has a strong grasp of the material and certainly knows how to sell it. Al’s George Newman is little more than a personification of Al himself, but it’s stilla good performance. In support, UHF boasts what is, perhaps, Victoria Jackson’s best performance anywhere. She was never that strong on Saturday Night Live (although often funny), but as George’s girlfriend Teri, she’s actually solid, serving mostly as straight man to the rest of the craziness. Janitor-turned-TV-star Stanley Spadowski gives an early glimpse at Michael Richards, surprisingly not nearly as recognizable as you might expect given that he main physical differnce to Kramer from Seinfeld is a set of fake teeth. But it’s the way Richards uses the otherwise similar physical comedy that makes Stanley a unique creation. There’s also a lot of fun from smaller parts played by Kevin McCarthy (Channel 8 owner R.J. Fletcher), Billy Barty (cameraman Noodles MacIntosh), Fran Drescher (receptionist/news reporter Pamela Finklesteen) and Emo Phillips (shop teacher Joe Earley). But the true highlight of the supporting cast is the stunningly brilliant performance of Anthony Geary (of General Hospital fame) as scientist / station tech Philo. The part was written with MST3K creator Joel Hodgson in mind and Al and Levy were surprised when Geary wanted to audition, but he fully inhabits the role. His ability to play to the comedy of the film while instilling Philo with a deeper sense of dignity and wisdom is impressive.
If there’s a major failing of UHF, it’s that the same freedom that the plot gives it to cover a wide range of topics also keeps it from being as consistant as it might otherwise be. Of course, compared to modern day nonsense like Date Movie, it’s practically on par with Citizen Kane as far as construction is concerned. It certainly never betrays its conceit, never allows the comedy to overwhelm the story.
The songs are some of Al’s strongest, with “Money For Nothing / The Beverly Hillbillies” being one of the best new-lyric parodies of his carreer. That’s the only song that gets the full treatment, but other pieces, like the title song and “Let Me Be Your Hog”, are just as good. Al does a nice job with the underscore as well, where he is able to have fun with a variety of music styles.
There’s no denying that UHF is held in much higher regard today than it was back in 1989. After years of the out-of-print VHS tape selling for over fifty dollars a pop, Al finally pushed through a DVD release with tons of extras and at a low price that sells like crazy even now, over two years later. It certainly deserves it.
*Weird Al’s film career wasn’t the only one that crashed and burned that year. It took Eddie Murphy seven years to recover from Harlem Nights.