Review 302: Ted
John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is a grown man whose cherished teddy bear came to life as the result of a childhood wish…and hasn’t left his side since. Can John’s relationship with longtime girlfriend, Lori (Mila Kunis), move forward with his lovably profane buddy in the picture?
The plot is great, every child, it's every child's fantasy to think that their teddy bear will come to life right? But add some pop cultural references, some of Seth Macfarlane's signature "rude" humor and you have Ted.
One of the main things that keep this comedy afloat is the friendship between John and Ted, this familiar concept of a kid - or in this case, a guy and his Teddy bare, and runs completely wild with it, they drink, they smoke they watch movies, the go to parties and in two scenes, visit the aquarium and attend the premiere of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
Some of the many running gags are that Ted is quite a rude and abrasive character: He smokes pot and he drinks alcohol. The film also pokes fun at various parts of pop culture. For instance, there's this scene where John and Lori come home from a date and they find Ted has invited some hockers over to their apartment and they're watching Jack and Jill with Adam Sandler and Ted states the film is awful and unwatchable.
Another gag is that Ted and John are Flash Gordon fans, one night Ted hosts a party at his new apartment and Flash Gordon star Sam J. Jones shows up which leads to so and me of the weirder moments with them getting drunk and stoned Ted singing karaoke.
The main thing that really hit about Ted was that it felt really believable, the characters felt like real people, going through similar life situations. I really bought John, Lori and Ted's predicament and relationship as well as their chemistry. Even though the "romance vs bromance" set up is not really original, Seth Macfarlane and his co-writers put a rather rude spin on it and make it feel genuine and original.
Seth Macfarlane has this talent for these ordinary concepts and putting these surreal spins on them. For instance with Family Guy, he creates this animated sitcom about an American family and throughs in all this surreal, black, off-colour humour into it. Which is what made it a big hit.
He does the same with Ted, he takes the basic idea of a guy and his best friend (Ted serves as a metaphor for a mans best friend) being together and the guy having to choose between his best friend and the love of his life and serialising it.
Seth Macfarlane's direction is sublime, the cinematography is brilliant, the scenery is breathtaking (there are some great shots of the Boston Cityscape), the Boston setting is excellent, the score by Walter Murphy is terrific, the production design is sleek, the costumes are splendid, the performance capture and character design for Ted are miraculous, the pop culture jokes are well placed, it's well paced, there is actually some cool action and tension and the ending was hilarious.
The acting is, for the most part, great throughout, Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Seth Macfarlane deliver superb comedic performances here,
Wahlberg plays this character who has loved this teddy bare since he was just a boy and developed this funny and moving relationship with him and now must choose who to spend the rest of his life with - Ted or Lori. It's a pretty tough dilemma he faces.
Mila Kunis is ernest as Lori, she loves John but feels Ted is preventing them form moving on with their lives and wants John to get rid of him. However I think she secretly grows attached to him and actually cares for him just as much as John does.
Seth Macfarlane is hilarious, that's all I can say, absolutely hilarious. He's this teddy bare come to life by the means of a simple wish and he and John have know each other all their lives and when John tells him he has to move out and get a job, it doesn't go well with him. Also he has attitude which leads to some good laughs.
Other actors who are great here are Giovanni Ribisi as a fan of Ted, he was so nasty and greedy and will stop at nothing to get his hands on him for his spoiled son and Joel McHale as Lori's stalker boss and the rest of the cast is great.
Ted features laugh-out-loud gags and a devilishly funny script making it a triumphant directional debut for Family Guy director Seth Macfarlane, 4/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
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