Director
Jay Levey
Cast
"Weird Al" Yankovic - George Newman
David Bowe - Bob Steckler
Michael Richards - Stanley Spadowski
Fran Drescher - Pamela Finklestein
Kevin McCarthy - R.J. Fletcher
Victoria Jackson - Teri Campbell
There's a list of movies in my head I consider "dumb, but not really." Movies such as Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), The Addams Family, The Gods Must Be Crazy, and a few others come across as stupid-ish at first glance, but tell an entertaining, perhaps well written, story.
UHF, written by musical satirist "Weird Al" Yankovic falls into that category.
I first watched this back in the early 1990s and remembered a few scenes all these years. I watched it for the second time a few days ago.
It's certainly not a cinematic masterpiece by any means. It's a ridiculously silly, slaphappy comedy satire.
For those even somewhat familiar with Yankovic and his music, it's exactly the kind of satirical comedy you'd expect. It entertains in just the way you think it would.
Years after its 1989 release, UHF also managed to leave an impression on audiences. For many, it was in the form of a "Twinkie wiener sandwich." You'll just have to Google that one because I'm not handing out that recipe.
Yankovic plays George Newman who's quite the daydreamer.
His lack of attention causes his friend Bob and himself to get fired from their job at a burger joint.
Desperate for work, George finds out that his uncle Harvey won the deed to local TV station, Channel 62, in a Poker game.
The station is near bankrupt, and its ratings and program line-ups aren't anywhere close to being on the charts. It's a doomed station.
But George sees a potentially rewarding opportunity with Channel 62 despite it being found on the lower end of the TV dial. So, he encourages his uncle to let him run the station with Bob to help him out.
When he starts his new job, George takes it upon himself to go meet his main competitor - RJ Fletcher, CEO of VHF Station Channel 8. This station would be located on the prime front end of the TV dial - the side reserved for stations with money. Obviously, this is before streaming and digital TV.
We see what kind of ruthless, unsympathetic, self-centered businessman Fletcher is when he fires the station's janitor, Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards - Seinfeld) and takes his one true prized possession away from him...his mop!
With the support of his girlfriend, Teri Campbell (Victoria Jackson - Saturday Night Live cast member 1986-1992), George creates a lineup of programs which boosts the station's ratings to the top.
During this line of success, George meets Stanley and hires him to clean the station. By chance, George discovers Stanley makes a popular host on an otherwise unsuccessful children's program. This, of course, helps boosts the station's ratings considerably. But Fletcher has his own plans to avoid getting beat.
A lot of the gags and jokes in the movie make me laugh. The rest is dated humor, and typical stereotypes often seen in comedies from 30 years ago. The reference to Geraldo Rivera's busted nose comes to mind.
The premise is ripe for parodic opportunities Yankovic is known for. And he pulls it off rather well for fans and comedy buffs to appreciate.
As a satirist, Yankovic is extremely talented. It shows in this movie. Audiences are even treated to a song, Beverly Hillbillies spoofing the song
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| Michael Richards and Weird Al Yankovic in UHF |
This isn't a movie audiences will watch for its acting, although I could see some Kosmo Kramer in Michael Richards wirery and off-the-wall goofy physical performance as Stanley Spadowski.
When it comes to Weird Al, I think his true talent lies in his line delivery - his vocal inflections to show despair and sadness, or over-the-top excitement at the most mundane things. It's funny when he does it. Yankovic is the everyday man...Mr. Joe Sixpack. He pokes fun at the reactions to situations he and anyone else would encounter day to day.
Otherwise, I can see why film critic Roger Ebert referred to his acting on screen as creating a "dispirited vacuum at the center of many scenes." His talent his humor rather than acting. Audiences watch UHF to laugh.
Still, Yankovic excels tremendously on music albums for sure. As for this movie, well, audiences wouldn't go to see a Weird Al movie expecting an intense cinematic performance. UHF isn't nor tries to be that kind of movie.
What UHF does do rather well is entertain.
Something about UHF still holds up as a comedic gag movie with all its spoofs of American pop culture and lifestyles.
Some of those jokes are still applicable to today despite the shift in commerce, change in entertainment platforms, and what passes for comedy 30 years later.
The movie relies just as much on its story as it does on its jokes.
George is touched upon as a daydreamer - someone who fantasizes himself as an untouchable hero similar to a Walter Mitty and his "secret life."
This characteristic isn't played in such a constant way to where it distracts from the movie and grows tiresome. Quite the opposite. In one instance we see George imagine himself as John Rambo as he goes to rescue Stanley from the evil clutches of Fletcher and his tough guys with guns and New York accents.
We also see him imagine himself as Indiana Jones going after a golden Oscar rather than the pagan idol from Raiders of the Lost Arc.
When UHF was released in 1989, it was up against some big titles - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman, Ghostbusters II, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Lethal Weapon 2. Talk about being buried! But somehow, Weird Al's movie has crawled its way through this crowd of heavyweight movies, and came out as a very respectable lightweight.
Some jokes may have grown stale and dated over time, but there's still some life left in this movie's humor, satire, and sight gags. It's a parody that, in more instances than not, still applies to modern America. I'm glad I gave this movie another chance 30 years later.
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