BY MIKEY MIGO
I am not a fan of Seth MacFarlane. Family Guy is one of my least favorite shows. I’d much rather watch just about anything over Family Guy, Cleveland, or American Dad. I didn’t totally write off American Dad at first, but the MacFarlane-isms just wore me out and pushed me away. I understand his humor and I love pop culture jokes, but there is something sterile and heartless in his stuff. It comes off douchey. To be fair, it could just be the douche fans. I’m also not a huge fan of Mark Wahlberg. He’s a good actor who gets involved in great projects as an actor or producer, but his comedic stuff falls flat with me. I hated “The Other Guys”, but on the flipside of that I loved “The Fighter”. On the bright side, I love me some Mila Kunis and I love me some weed smoking Teddy Bears! I had to give this a chance. I went into it full of optimism and an open mind. I wanted to love it. Why wouldn’t I? The movie revolves around a guy whose best friend is a Teddy Bear who is a bad influence on him. He’s working a dead end job, but seems content enough with it and his hot and awesome girlfriend. It’s pretty much a “coming of age” movie for the slacker turning towards adulthood. Mila Kunis is a great supportive girlfriend in this. Too often the girlfriend characters in movies like this are bitchy, dumb, or overbearing. Kunis was none of these things. She was realistic in what she wanted and expected. Wahlberg struggles to get away from his party/slacker/post-adolescent lifestyle and history. It seems the big reason he can’t move forward is because Ted was holding him back. This leads to tension, hilarity, zany antics, and a few “win back the girl!” moments. I enjoyed this movie. I don’t know if I need to watch it again. It’s not a movie that MUST be in my collection. I’m not going to go out of my way to tell friends to see this. Mark Wahlberg was okay in this, but seeing a cameo by Ryan Reynolds made me realize he would have been PERFECT for the role. Joel McHale was the dick head bad guy. I liked seeing him in a big money comedy, but I think it’s time for someone to pull the trigger and have him lead in something like this too. Hell, to keep it in the MacFarlane family why not have had it been Seth Green? It just felt like Mark Wahlberg was miscast. He’s too much a “starting quarterback” type than someone who would need a Teddy Bear best friend. It’s just hard to imagine him NOT being the most popular person in the room at all times. He was “Marky Mark!” for crying out loud. I’m not saying to go “full nerd” with it, but at least someone who has something slightly off to them. It’s not THAT good, but it’s still worth your time. It’s still one of the best comedies out this year. On the plus side, it has more soul and heart to it than anything Seth MacFarlane has put out there so far. That’s about all I can ask for. B-
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