An artist can be quite successful in one media only to fail in another despite delivering the same sort of content. In case of comedian “Weird Al” Yankovic that content was parody. In 1980s he became famous for novelty songs and music videos spoofing big hits by Michael Jackson, Madonna and other major pop stars of the era. However, an attempt to employ the same approach to big screen failed with UHF, 1989 comedy directed by Jack Levey.
In the film Yankovic plays George Newman, young man with rich imagination who often allows himself to lose concentration for the sake of daydreaming, costing himself and his best friend Bob Steckler (played by David Bowe) jobs. Thankfully, his uncle Harvey Bilchik (played by Stanley Brock) wins U62, local television station, at a poker game and George becomes its manager. At first, the station, which mostly airs reruns of ancient shows, looks a like hopeless cause. Things change when janitor Stanley Spadowski (playe by Michael Richards) gets an opportunity to host children’s show. It becomes major hit and, together with another innovative shows, U62 ratings suddenly rise. This is something that infuriates R. J. Fletcher (played by Kevin McCarthy), manager of network-affiliated Channel 8 station, who would stop at nothing to get rid of competition.
It would be quite unfair to say that UHF isn’t funny. The films contains some scenes that aren’t only hilarious, but brilliant. Unfortunately, like with many parody films, the quality of those gags varies very much. Yankovic, who co-wrote the script with Levey, has some serious problems with gags that look great on paper, but are poorly executed, mostly because they are overlong and at times not very inspired. That includes scenes in which George imagines himself as Indiana Jones or Rambo. Same goes for the gag that was supposed to spoof 1960s Beverly Hillbillies sitcom together with “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits – a concept that is wasted by being overlong and overstaying their welcome. Another problem, very common with parodies, especially in later decades, is that object of parodies are often personalities and pop culture phenomena set firmly in certain time period and that wouldn’t mean much to the audience born after it (like trashy commercials, game shows or Geraldo Rivera’s talk show). The title itself refers to ultra high frequency, which was used for analogue broadcasting and which is technology most of young viewers, accustomed to cable television and streaming, are completely unaware of.
Yankovic, however, does a decent job in his role, although he mostly plays a straight man and allows the rest of the cast to outshine him. This is especially the case with Michael Richards, whose goofy but endearing character of a janitor proud of his job paved the way for his future glory in Seinfeld. Kevin McCarthy is, on the other hand, wasted in one-dimensional role of over the top villain. There are many relatively unknown comedians who also do brilliant jobs in small roles, including Saturday Night Live veteran Victoria Jackson in the role of George’s long suffering girlfriend. This, however, isn’t enough to rescue this film from its major structural problem – series of often unsuccessful gags relatively loosely connected by generic plot. UHF was originally released in the worst possible moment – Summer of 1989, when it had to compete with multitude of hyped blockbusters, that were often much better. Poor box office results contributed a lot to financial woes of Orion Pictures, that would soon lead to collapse of that studio. Like with many 1980s theatrical flops, UHF found new life on home video and gained something of a cult status. Yankovic’s career quickly recovered and he found more suitable media for his talents in television and, later, in video streaming. Youtube and similar services are probably the best way to properly enjoy UHF. Fake trailer for Gandhi II and similar brilliant gags can be enjoyed without having to sit through the film in its entirety.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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