I have to admit it, I really like this movie. When my husband got it, I originally thought it would be really stupid. Well, it is really stupid, but it's supposed to be! You aren't sitting down to watch UHF to see a meaningful, thought-provoking film. You're looking for some cheap laughs, and UHF delivers...
UHF was created by Weird Al Yankovic, the man who brought us such greats as "Eat It" and "Like a Surgeon" for our listening pleasure. He's strange, he's silly and he's always entertaining. And he's just an all-around nice guy. In the movie he plays George Newman, a typical guy who just can't seem to find his niche in life. He bounces from lousy job to job and spends most of his time daydreaming of a more exciting life.
Luckily his uncle hires him to manage a little UHF station. He gets off to a rocky start until he finds the right show. His hit show turns out to be a kids show hosted by a janitor, Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse and the success opens the door for all sorts of Yankovic weirdness... New shows follow from Conan the Librarian to Wheel of Fish to my personal favorite, Raul's Wild Kingdom. You can watch the sadistic Raul attempt to teach poodles how to fly or to explain that, "Did you know that turtles are also nature's suction cup?"
Another fun thing about the movie is to see stars before they were famous or when they used to be famous. Stanley Spadowski steals the show, played by Michael Richards who the rest of the world of course knows as Kramer. He really shows that he has a gift for comedy in this movie. You also get to see Fran Drescher from the Nanny, as well as ex-SNL cast member Victoria Jackson. The real treat is Michael Richards, though.
There's also an entertaining cameo by Emo Phillips as a horribly inept shop teacher. He cuts off his own thumb with a table saw and just calmly remarks, "Will you look at that? Just call me Mr. Butter-Fingerrrs." It's a classic...
And of course there's Weird Al. Yes, he overacts horribly in the film, but only he can manage to pull it off. I especially love the part where his station is floundering, his girlfriend just left him and he's stuck hosting a kids show in a silly costume playing Uncle Nutsy...
"Now I'd like to show you one of my favorite cartoons. It's a sad, depressing story about a pathetic coyote who spends every waking moment of his life in a futile pursuit against a sadistic roadrunner who mocks and laughs at him as he's repeatedly CRUSHED and MAIMED! I hope you ENJOY IT!"
That has to be my favorite scene in the entire movie... In fact, one of the things I love about it is that it's one of those movies that are so easily quoteable. If you hear someone say, "Cause life is like a mop..." or "I'm thinking of something bluuuuuue... Something bluuuuuue...", you know they've watched UHF. I especially like Weird Al's portrayal of "Gandhi 2: No More Mr. Passive Resistance".
But with success comes enemies in the form of Channel 8, the local affiliate, and it's evil head RJ Fletcher. And he's out to destroy Channel 62. Will Al survive the wrath of Fletcher? Will he ever make his dreams come true? Do we get a music video? In fact we do get a music video, a perfect take-off of Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" with the Beverly Hillbillies. It's quite entertaining. But if you want the answers to the other questions, you'll just have to watch the movie and find out.
This is a great movie when you just want something silly and funny. Go into the movie knowing that it's not meant to be an intelligent film. It's more like Airplane or the Naked Gun. It's a dumb movie, but it's supposed to be! It's just a whole lot of weird fun and you'll be sure to enjoy it...
Product DetailsOriginal Title:Weird Al Yankovic UHFActors: Kevin McCarthy - Victoria Jackson - 'Weird Al' YankovicCondition: NEWFormat: DVDDirector: ...More at iNetVideo.com
Funnyman "Weird" Al Yankovic stars in this comedy as George Newman a man who takes over a low-rent TV station won by his uncle in a poker game. Newman...More at Family Video
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