[Insert bear themed pun]

KATHMANDU, AUG 29 - It’s been a good many years since I was introduced to the comedy powerhouse otherwise known as Seth Macfarlane. Of course, it wasn’t until very recently that I learned he also had a hand in some of my favourite Hanna-Barbera cartoons like Johnny Bravo and Dexter’s Laboratory, or became aware of the appearances he’d made on various popular TV series in the past—or his long-standing musical career, for that matter (the man has a resume a mile long, really)—but it was the boundary-smashing, censor-board mocking Family Guy from 1999 that first brought him to my attention. Initial impressions, I’m afraid, weren’t great; there was an arbitrariness to the show that I thought was lazy, and the plot seemed to rely too heavily on mining shock value. But, as with most objects of acquired taste, the more I watched, the more engrossed I became in Macfarlane’s warped brand of humour and his refreshing disregard for convention, and ended up devouring the many seasons of the show and moving on to his other animated series—spinoff The Cleveland Show and American Dad! And when I heard a motion picture was in the works, I had understandably high hopes. But while Ted certainly bears Macfarlane’s signature in many respects, it is disappointingly tame for a man who has always pushed limits and never held back in his other endeavours.

The premises here are as ridiculous as they come (then again, not any more ridiculous than a talking dog with writerly ambitions or a WMD-building thespian baby with a giant head). The film begins with a mock-serious childhood sequence—narrated whimsically by Patrick Stewart—wherein a lonely, bullied young boy, John, finds himself wishing he had a real friend. By some Christmas miracle, John’s prayers are answered and his teddy bear (imaginatively named ‘Ted’) suddenly comes to life, much to everyone’s surprise. But, and remember to check logic at the door, the talking teddy is eventually accepted by everyone, and he even turns into something of a worldwide media star. Twenty-seven years later, however, while the friendship is still going strong, the bear (voiced by Macfarlane) has lost what minor celebrity he enjoyed, becoming something of a foul-mouthed, sex-crazed slacker, a poor influence on John (Mark Wahlberg), now 35. The two spend an inordinate amount of time smoking up and watching Flash Gordon reruns on TV, neither with any shiny prospects for the future.

Enter Lori (Mila Kunis), John’s girlfriend of four years, who has had enough of his juvenile ways. She gives him an ultimatum—either throw Ted out, or lose her. And so it is that our furry friend is shown the door, made to get a place of his own, and find employment. What follows is the toll the separation takes on the two friends as we watch them struggle to overcome their mutual dependence in an attempt to become adults. At heart, like many other recent R-rated comedies, Ted talks about the difficulty of leaving behind the security—and the enviable lack of responsibilities—of adolescence, and the role friends play in facilitating or hindering that transition.

Macfarlane has always been a perplexing auteur, eager to pay tribute to and subvert formulas at the same time. Family Guy episodes are characterised by fast-balling pop culture references, brazen non-sequiturs and ‘cutaways’ that break suddenly into stories. But as lowbrow as the humour can often seem, and as offensively as the stereotypes might be charted—nothing is off limits in the series after all—there is a slick self-awareness at work, a deliberate sort of absurdity, that makes it palatable, and well, funny as hell. That element is certainly visible in bits and pieces in Ted, a playfulness that results in some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments, particularly in scenes with Wahlberg and his animated co-star, who share more easy chemistry than the entire cast of Twilight put together. Case in point: a hilarious and realistic fight sequence in a hotel room. The CGI is almost flawless, to the point where you have to remind yourself that you’re watching an anthropomorphic toy. And unexpected cameos by Family Guy regulars and other surprise guests add to the fun.

Despite the promising opening, however, the absurd premises and semi-regular bursts of crass humour aren’t enough to sustain the entire film. The framing is intentionally simple—the only novelty brought in courtesy of the animated bear—which should’ve given filmmakers the leeway to pack the script with gags. But they haven’t. Ted feels restrained somehow, a far cry from the kind of outrageous irreverence that Macfarlane has built his comedy cred on. Instead, the schmaltzy sentimentality that the film starts out mocking eventually becomes its mainstay; several subplots that have no business being in the film culminate in an overly-dramatic climax. And although I don’t feel inclined to comment on Wahlberg’s usual nostril-flaring ‘reacting skills’, Miss Kunis—who has more than proved her comic talents in That 70s Show—should definitely have been given more to do except swish her pretty hair and pout.

One could argue that perhaps Macfarlane isn’t ready for the big screen just yet, struggling as he appears to do here between pandering to clichés and critiquing them, losing his otherwise ultra sharp satirical edge in the process. Of course, Ted isn’t terrible by any means and coming from a lesser filmmaker, I’d probably be more generous. But this is Macfarlane, and we’ve all seen what the big boy can do. I’m hoping that this is just a warm up, with bigger and better things further ahead. Maybe he should throw out that long-planned Family Guy film in the meantime, just to save face.
ekantipur

Posted in: Entertainment