Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘UHF’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Every year there is always a gem of a movie that I manage to miss, one that I regret missing when I see it later on.  In fact, I think it is safe to say it happens to all of us. For me, it usually comes down to schedules or time and I don't get the chance to make it to the theater to enjoy a particular motion picture.  

In some cases, however, there is an outstanding film released that doesn't resonate in theaters. It makes little money and from a box office standpoint is forgotten. But the wonder of home video has changed all of that and films that were once forgotten have been discovered on either the shelf or these days online, and the result is a deluge of word of mouth-based interest that ends up making the film a success after all. Case in point, the hilarious comedy; UHF. 

George Newman has an incredible resume. On it you will find job after job and with good reason, George is a daydreamer and his inability to focus ends up costing him more jobs than any of us can count. But fate is an interesting mistress and when George is handed ownership of a tiny little UHF television station, his imagination will be unleashed, and all eyes will be watching as George's station begins to dominate the ratings.  

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Released in the summer of 1989, UHF found itself lost in the midst of one of the biggest summer blockbuster seasons in film history. Tim Burton's Batman and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade are just a couple of the films that completely and utterly buried UHF at the box office and that's unfortunate because this film is completely and utterly brilliant and I am so glad that this little gem was discovered years later on VHS and DVD. In fact, there are only a handful of comedies that I have seen in my time that have kept me laughing throughout the entire film and this is one of them. 

From George's daydreams, the jokes in general and incredible parodies such as Gandhi II this is a movie that just shows off the comedic genius of its star and one of its writer's; "Weird Al" Yankovic. Already a comedic genius with his amazing parody albums, turning him loose on film only enhances his legacy. I mean come on, the "Spatula City" commercial to this day still sends me into fits of laughter the instant the president of the company, Sy Greenbloom, does his thing. Those of you who have seen the film know exactly what I mean.  

But for those of you that haven't, it's high time that you do. You will be hard pressed to find a movie as imaginative and hilarious as UHF and here is to hoping that the filmmaking bug bites "Weird Al" one more time so he can make another masterpiece as awesome as this movie. ​

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