What’s it About?
A man wrestles with the lingering consequences of a childhood wish in this live-action comedy from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.
Ted
Directed by Seth MacFarlane
6 out of 10
By Brian
The premise of this film is actually quite good. What would happen if your Christmas wish came true and your teddy bear came to life and was your best friend? Now, what would happen after you grew up and you couldn’t get the bear to move out of your apartment? It’s a funny and refreshing idea from the mind of Seth MacFarlane who is most well known for being the creator of the Fox show “Family Guy.” I’ll be completely honest. I absolutely hate Family Guy.
I’ll admit that humor is a very subjective thing and one person’s treasure can be what I might roll my eyes at. That show is a collection of stupid fucking jokes that have no relevance to anything. Thankfully, Ted does not suffer from that problem.
The plot is very easy to follow and the performances, particularly by Wahlberg and Kunis, are very good. They both communicate convincingly with the bear and after a while he almost becomes real. The problem with that is that it eliminates the entire hook of the premise.
If the viewer grows so comfortable with a teddy bear as a main character that he fits into every day life, why make him a teddy bear at all? That was the main problem I had with the film. The idea is that the living teddy becomes such old news from the 1980’s that no one even gives a shit that he’s alive.
That kind of eliminates a lot of the jokes. Teddy goes out to dinner, parties, has “sex”, does cocaine, and hosts parties and people don’t even react to him. He’s just another guy. It seemed like a terrible waste of a really good premise.
On the positive side, the first hour has some really funny moments. I did find myself laughing loud and often and it was a lot of fun. The second half goes the emotional route and lost me a bit but it’s still a comedy I can moderately recommend if you’re willing to lower your expectations a bit.
VIC'S MOVIE DEN 