OVP: Ted (2012)

Film: Ted (2012)
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane, Joel McHale, Giovanni Ribisi, Patrick Stewart
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Original Song-"Everybody Needs a Best Friend")
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

I, after years of fighting it, am a huge fan of Seth MacFarlane and his crazy but lovable antics.  There have been times in my life where I fell with the South Park side of the Cartoon Wars-I'm aware that Family Guy mines much of its humor from one-offs and cutaways that have little to do with the plot and more to do with random amusing anecdotes that one of the writers must have thought outloud and wished to include in the show.  His cavalcade of television shows (which also include The Cleveland Show and, my favorite, American Dad!) never quite reach the historic brilliance of The Simpsons or the sharp incisiveness of South Park, but they are a fun, oftentimes devilishly clever, part of television history at this point.

So it seems natural that I would respond well to MacFarlane, who always has had a flair for the cinematic, when he turned to the movies, and indeed, there's so much to like about this movie.  I'll include a quick spoiler alert here, but I suspect everyone's already caught this movie and I'm the last to the show.  The film tells the tale of a magical teddy bear (MacFarlane), brought to life by a young boy's wish, who grows up to be a slovenly, sex-crazed adult, who still lives with his best friend John (Wahlberg) and his far more successful, increasingly frustrated girlfriend Lori (Kunis).  In addition to Kunis, the film features such MacFarlane regulars as Patrick Stewart and Patrick Warburton in supporting roles, as well as numerous cameos (a staple in the cartoon world of MacFarlane).

The movie, like most of MacFarlane's work, has a lot of heart underneath its thick layer of dirty jokes and sarcastic cuts.  The film is largely about John, who must decide whether or not he is going to leave his world of bong hits and Flash Gordon viewings to become a grown-up, with a managerial job and a wife.  Wahlberg, not one to back down from an acting challenge, embraces the hambone antics of his character with aplomb, and even when it's obvious that MacFarlane is poking fun at his Boston-born star, Wahlberg is more than willing to go the extra mile for a physical laugh.  Kunis, for so many years the put-upon straight woman on Family Guy, once again rises to the challenge of being an audience counterweight to the bevy of shenanigans onscreen.  This is the wrong film to gripe about for this (since Kunis is very well cast and delivers in her role), but considering the many accolades she received for Black Swan (you have to believe she was in sixth place for the Oscar nomination), it's a pity that the clearly talented (who would have guessed ten years ago that it would be she, and not Topher Grace, that would be the "thespian" of That 70's Show?) actress has not been able to land another director as generous as Aronofsky to work with; she's signed up with Phil Alden Robinson and Paul Haggis, so perhaps that's about to change, though I'm not what you can call a fan of either of them, so I have some doubts.

Though Wahlberg and Kunis are the headliners, the star of this, like any of MacFarlane's productions, is the director himself, as Ted is another humorous creation that can proudly sit beside Stewie Griffin and Roger the Alien.  Like Peter Griffin, he's crude but lovable, and like Quagmire, he is constantly shifting from woman-to-woman (though he has infinitely more respect for the rather "unique" women who would for some reason date a teddy bear).  Ted is selfish and sarcastic, but you can see why John and even Lori appreciate him-he's a well-meaning, caring individual that just hasn't hit maturity quite yet.

The problem with MacFarlane's writing, which is always solid, is that it's also vastly repetitive.  For those of you who, like me, have seen every episode of Family Guy and American Dad a myriad of times, you'll notice how he steals jokes from himself and repackages them onscreen.  You can't hit as many episodes as Family Guy without starting to recycle some ideas, but it'd be nice to see MacFarlane stretch his talents a bit.  Trey Parker and Matt Stone, for example, borrowed from but deeply enhanced their work with The Book of Mormon, a classic in its own right.  With MacFarlane now exploring the world of film, considering his crooner voice, it'd be nice if he would tackle a musical or maybe get outside of his comfort zone a bit and focus on, I don't know, a decade other than the 1980's for his pop culture inspiration.

The movie, in one of those twists that only happens in the Song and Makeup categories, became an Oscar nominee (and got MacFarlane his first Oscar nomination as a result) for the Norah Jones sung "Everybody Needs a Best Friend."  In a surprisingly strong year for the Best Song category (after last year's laughingstock this is a welcome relief), this song is catchy and plays over the opening credits, and assists the story right along.  It's not a particularly memorable song (if you think back on it, you only truly remember the title hook, and it doesn't compare to MacFarlane's cartoon rivals Matt & Trey's blissful "Blame Canada"), but this category has gone far, far worse, and it's a fun way to honor this year's Oscar host.

And that's where I'm going to leave off as I've touched on what I wanted to touch upon (the silly kidnapping story seems like unnecessary and cliched patter, so I don't feel the need to discuss it), but what about you?  What are your thought on MacFarlane and his potential cinematic career?  Do you also wish that Kunis would do more challenging fare amidst the sea of Justin Timberlake sex comedies?  And since this is the fifth of our five films nominated for Best Song, which tune are you hoping wins at the Oscars in a few weeks?