Ted
I’ve only watched a handful of episodes of “Family Guy,” the iconic cult cartoon from Seth McFarland, as well as the feature-length, direct-to-DVD parody, “Something Something Something Dark Side.” On the whole, I haven’t really warmed to his disturbed wit the way I did to “The Simpsons” and “Futurama.” I mention this to establish my own, personal history with McFarland’s brand of comedy before delving into “Ted,” his first film to hit theatres.
McFarland’s picked quite a concept upon which to build his first live-action offering. In 1985, a young boy named John Bennett is a loner; he has no friends– even the Jewish boy the neighborhood kids beat up at Christmas time doesn’t want John taking part. When he’s 8, his parents give him a stuffed teddy bear. That night, he makes a wish that he wants him to be alive so that they can be best friends forever, and lo and behold…John’s wish comes true. The next morning, John awakes to find Ted alive, which sends quite a shockwave through his life (and Ted to superstardom). Twenty-seven years later, they’re still best of friends, smoking weed and watching “Flash Gordon” together, while John (Mark Wahlberg) is in love with Lori (Mila Kunis), who, after four years, is looking to start a real life with John. But can John grow up, and still hang out with Ted (voiced and performance-captured by McFarland)? Of course, that’s always the question at the heart of such films.
Before I go on about, a bit about Mark Wahlberg. True, his looks and physique make him an ideal action star in movies such as “Shooter” “The Italian Job,” and this year’s “Contraband,” but for my money, Wahlberg has been at his best when it comes to material that has a wicked sense of humor. Yeah, most people hate the movie, but my favorite of Wahlberg’s starring roles remains the absurdly over-the-top action comedy “The Big Hit,” where his hit man has to find time to return an overdue copy of “King Kong Lives” in between ridiculous gunfights. In the same vein, Wahlberg taps into such lunacy again in “The Other Guys,” which plays it a bit straighter than “The Big Hit,” but with the same sort of crazy wit. And even though the movie is a dramatic tour de force, Wahlberg’s Oscar-nominated turn in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” adds some much-needed, scene-stealing laughs to the somewhat-dour proceedings. My guess is that McFarland saw the same thing I did in these movies, and wrote a script that played to these strengths in Marky Mark’s persona. I’m not sure if the results rate with these earlier performances, but I certainly hope the box-office success of “Ted” leads people to stop pigeonholing Wahlberg as an action star.
As for the film itself, I would certainly rate it as one of the best comedies of the year, although I think that, by and large, McFarland’s brand of bold, offensive humor isn’t really for me. While I must give the man kudos for his typically hilarious performance as Ted, which is the first time performance-capture has been used for anything other than an animated film, or an effects-laden blockbuster, the film as a whole isn’t really one I find myself anxious to revisit. The insane pop culture references and spoofs, which are littered all over “Family Guy,” from my understanding, grow tired, and honestly, the film’s “happy” ending didn’t really work for me; a more adventurous film on the narrative side would have challenged audience conventions for the typical Hollywood ending. Why McFarland doesn’t do so is, perhaps, part of what makes him one of the most polarizing comedic minds in pop culture. Still, credit must be given where it’s due– he made me laugh an awful lot, even if I didn’t necessarily feel good about it.
