After years of success in TV animation, Seth MacFarlane's live-action directorial debut, Ted, became a blockbuster smash-hit in 2012, which led to him hosting SNL and The Oscars. Now, MacFarlane doesn't want to just be known as the dude who does the voices on Family Guy but a Hollywood leading man whose face we can now recognize and say, "Hey! That's the dude who does the voices on Family Guy!"
MacFarlane returns with another irreverent comedy, but this time he goes west and back to the 1800s! He plays Albert, a cowardly sheep farmer, who's trying to win back his girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried) while finding himself in one-too many gunfights.
I wasn't a fan of Ted because I saw it as a tired extension of Family Guy that was super tedious to sit through. This time MacFarlane only brings the extension from a comedic standpoint. However, he was wise to give us a story in a fresher setting and a character that we can actually care for. And while the movie's strength is in its work to make you laugh, its heavy reliance on jokes is what cripples the story. The movie could have easily been re-titled: A Million Ways to Laugh at the Same Seth MacFarlane Joke.
Ultimately, this tale aims to be a fun western satire that winks at the audience about not getting all the details right, but its genre-juggling is another reason for why it struggles. It may have solid actors to convey the strong emotional beats that need to be hit, but since the movie doesn't always want us to take it seriously, it's hard to have those earnest moments be earned. And those moments primarily deal with the movie's love story that comes off as weakly familiar. Not because it looks Silver Linings Playbook-esque, but because it's a standard love story that lacks inspiring narrative complications.
What should have been another great perk about the film is its stellar cast, but outside of Neil Patrick Harris, who hilariously plays one of Albert's rivals, the rest of the cast either plays out as just fine (Theron) or just okay (Seyfired), or just there for gags, not plot (Silverman and Ribisi) or really underwritten (Neeson). I thought that was what celebrity cameos were for.
Die-hard Seth MacFarlane fans should get their fill, but for how long? His style had a mixed reaction for casual moviegoers at my screening, but Universal Pictures is banking on another smash hit. MacFarlane will continue to stunt himself if he only relies on "vibrant jokes" instead of telling a vibrant story (with vibrant jokes). Regardless of what the movie's legacy will be, the question remains: can MacFarlane grow as a storyteller and actually blaze a new saddle that we haven't ridden before?
