Sometimes I say that a movie isn't meant for our demographic (old white people) but we liked it anyway--this isn't one of those. The story about a man-child whose teddy-bear is alive and rules his life would have made a cute short or SNL skit but at 106 minutes, it's too long by an hour and a half. Jack and I have no objections to crudeness nor foul language--this is just dumb. Mark Wahlberg (last mentioned in The Fighter, for which he earned an Oscar producing nomination) and Mila Kunis (Black Swan), with help from Joel McHale (one of the stars of Community, he was also good in The Informant! and The Big Year) and Giovanni Ribisi (The Rum Diary), try very hard but they can't redeem this.
Seth MacFarlane (creator, writer, and voice of the male Griffins and more on all 188 episodes of Family Guy, started as a storyboard artist on a few series, then did some acting and worked on some other series, including American Dad! and The Cleveland Show) makes his live-action directing debut here, taking credit for the story, sharing screenwriting credit with Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, who worked on Family Guy, and providing the voice of Ted. Ryan Reynolds had the right idea--he appears onscreen twice, doesn't have a line, and his name isn't in the end credits (though the fine folks at imdb put him in anyway). MacFarlane does have fun putting down iconic actors (one of whom has a supporting part as himself), other movies, and "white trash girls."
For the record, Jack is a Family Guy fan, but he didn't much like it either, and commented that a too-long fight scene is a Family Guy staple. Rottentomatoes clocks it at 68% critics and 82% audiences, and, as of last weekend, when we saw it, it was third at the box office in its fourth week out. So millions of Americans have voted with their tickets, but we felt differently. To quote men on film, hated it.
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