‘Ted’: Stuffed with laughs
Sometimes, it takes a special person to shake things up, to remind us that we’ve been stuck in a rut and need a new perspective. Or, as in the case of “Ted,” it takes a special effect.
For his big-screen directorial debut, Seth MacFarlane has made a traditional buddy comedy, in much the same way his animated TV show, “Family Guy,” is a traditional sitcom. Which is to say, he works within a framework, while simultaneously tearing it to shreds.
He couldn’t have asked for a better partner than Mark Wahlberg, an excellent, and eternally underappreciated, straight man.
In the past, Wahlberg has generously ceded the spotlight to Christian Bale (“The Fighter”), Will Ferrell (“The Other Guys”) and his own anatomy (“Boogie Nights”). Here, he plays second string to a toy. The story, which MacFarlane wrote with “Family Guy’s” Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, introduces us to a lonely child named John, who wishes for his stuffed bear to come to life. Magically enough, it actually happens.
In another film, John might have learned valuable lessons from this miracle.
In this movie, John (Wahlberg) grows up to become an aimless Boston slacker whose extended adolescence is enabled by his equally juvenile stuffed animal. (The expertly computer-animated Ted is voiced by MacFarlane.)
Even John realizes there are issues in living with a talking teddy bear — chief among them, the waning patience of his girlfriend, Lori (Mila Kunis). She wants to settle down. Ted, who has the focus of an overindulged frat boy, just wants to party. And John is stuck in the middle.
“Family Guy” fans will find that MacFarlane’s brand of skewed humor translates easily to the big screen, built as it is on razor-sharp pop-culture references, unabashedly bad taste and surprising flashes of sweetness.
Not every joke scores, of course.
But the hits are worth the misses, and anyway, the movie’s true genius is in the way its outlandish scenario is played so perfectly straight.
By following his own twisted logic with unwavering dedication, MacFarlane simultaneously uses, mocks and expands Hollywood conventions.
The relationship between Ted and John is no more ridiculous than any other clichéd bromance, even though we know Wahlberg must have spent all his time on set acting opposite — what? An actual teddy? MacFarlane? Nothing?
Really, it doesn’t matter. True chemistry is hard to find. And by some stroke of movie magic — or sheer skill — Wahlberg and the bear make a pretty great team.