If you can't take being offended, this is not for you!
For Seth MacFarlane's directional debut, i may not be paying to watch his second work. But for the creator of 'Family Guy' he has taken his love for characters who shouldn't behave like humans behaving like humans to the next level & to the big screen with his cohesive hit 'Ted'. Fans of Seth are pleased to know the comedy pioneer has remained cold with his racist, sexist and consistent vulgar remarks you can't help but smile about. It's not easy to keep scoring laughs using the same non-sequitur formula over and over again but fortunately 'Ted' is more comically adherence effort than you'd expect from the king of unexpected jabs, references & political incorrectness which there's plenty of.
If you haven't been curious enough to find out what the film is about already, 'Ted' tells the story of how young John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) who grows up by going through life struggling to find/hold on to a friendship. Every year he has trouble fitting in as a kid until the long awaited teddy bear called 'Ted' arrives on Christmas day. Excited, he falls asleep on the words 'I wish you were alive Ted', his wish comes true and Ted becomes world famous, even appearing on the Johnny Carson show. But as Patrick Stewart lovingly & frankly reminds us in his role as narrator: like Corey Feldman and Frankie Muniz, eventually, people stop giving a s**t.
Despite a serious four year relationship with Lori (Mila Kunis), nearly middle aged John (Mark Wahlberg) is still ripping bongs & lounging around on the sofa watching 80's 'Flash Gordon' with his equal counterpart, irresistible, irresponsible and highly immature teddy bear best friend. John must start to grow up and start to make sacrifices if he wants to be the adult Lori wants him to be, and Ted is arguably the chief reason for his inability to shape up. Great moral to the story, it had so much promise you'd think but in majority of comedies they loose their sense of morale & guidance, Ted lost the point wanting John Bennett to grow up and see Ted out of his life but for the final finale in the last half an hour the moral of the story contradicts itself completely. However there aren't exactly any curve balls in this story, but that's when you realise you're watching a film in which is a man is trying to stop hanging out with his profane teddy bear, despite the obvious outcomes, 'Ted' has to be considered an original comedy.
The only thing that feels a little out of place is a subplot involving Giovanni Ribisi as a creepy single father who has been a longtime admirer of Ted's and enquires about purchasing him for his overweight son. You've never seen Ribisi like this and that alone is amusing, but the focus of the film is on how John & Ted's mischief impacts his ability to grow up and get more serious with Lori, and this sort of butts into things.
Overall the film will make you laugh into hysterics at times, but you yourself must be up to date with the jokes & the constant referencing of people to get a better grip of the humour that is 'Ted'. Audiences will write you off if you deliver them something inconsistent & scatter-brained that goes beyond 30 inconsequential minutes of their lives, and MacFarlane and co-writers Alec Sulkin & Wellesley Wild make the majority of adjustments needed to Honor that notion. 'Ted' is as engaging as it is clever, funny and ridiculous.
©Joe Taphouse
