I figured it was just about time for
another comedy, but could Ted be the movie to ruin my recent run-ins
with bad comedies? I find a lot of live-action comedy movies that are
about a couple are pretty much cannon fodder for date movies or
watched by the people who don't have an exciting life and stayed in
their pajamas all day. Yeah we're all guilty of watching those kinds
of movies for both of those reasons, and for me I watched Ted because
of the latter. On the plus side, however, the movie was headed by
Seth MacFarlane (director, writer, voice) who continually makes me
laugh and the movie has some decent star power.
Right off the bat, this movie is rated R. I don't think the movie was ever actually targeted as a children's movie, even if it has a talking teddy bear. The language is pretty vile, they don't let up on many terrible, painful life changing diseases and disabilities and there is a copious amount of drug use, sexual innuendo and brief violence. More scary is the fact there is an honest (albeit weird) love triangle between two people and a friend who happens to be a bear. My point is, give the movie a try if you are at all into MacFarlane's other projects such as Family Guy or American Dad.
The movie starts with a great
introduction, and the narration by Patrick Stewart really gets you in
the mood for an absurd movie. The beginning actually has quite a bit
in common with the new Muppets movie, of course with a bit more adult
language but still the beginning is sort of sweet if not perhaps a
little more realistic than the Muppets introduction. You see Ted
(the stuffed bear voiced by Seth MacFarlane himself) hit Hollywood
hard but as time went on he is just as washed out as any actor who
has their 15 minutes of fame and his owner is all grown up, living a
normal as you can get life when your best friend is a two foot teddy
bear with a job, a car and a girlfriend. The dynamic between John
Bennett (played by Mark Wahlberg), Ted and the girlfriend Lori
(played by Mila Kunis) is all pretty standard fair for a third wheel
in a comedy with a side of romance. If Ted wasn't a talking bear the
movie would be close to something that has been repeated multiple
times every summer as what is called a “romcom” which is a
terrible word and I hate that I typed that out. Sorry. But
everything is just a bit more enjoyable when a two foot bear says it.
The shock value is just more acceptable to me when it comes from a
fluffy bear. It's the same idea that some ventriloquists have they use a
rather unacceptable voice with their puppet compared to their own.
The ventriloquist Nina Conti performs a perfect example of what I'm
talking about with her partner Monk.
 |
| Grumpy bear is grumpy. |
I feel as if the story is probably the
weakest part of the movie; the talking teddy bear is a pretty clear
gimmick over a pretty thin story line, though the sidestory with
Donny (played by Giovanni Ribisi) was a bit more enjoyable and
overall gave more of an emotional drive than the relationship
storyline. But take Ted away and turn him into the jobless
badly-behaved stoner / drunk best friend *human* and the movie would
lose a lot of its charm, and I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.
There is something really enjoyable for me seeing such an innocent
thing as a teddy bear be as vulgar as possible. The movie doesn't
break new ground but that didn't stop me from laughing for a bloody
long time and really when it comes to comedy is that not the main
point, to laugh?
Ted is as crass as they come and anyone
who clings to the word “offended” like a badge of honour should
stay far away from this movie so as to not ruin it for those who are
open to the idea of shock value and just having a good time in the
complete ridiculousness of it all. The movie is just over 90 minutes
and I never went a couple of minutes without a little chuckle at
least. It's absurd full of 80s references and unusual with a talking
teddy. So if you actively don't like Seth MacFarlane's work this
movie is a no-go but you probably already knew that.
I give it 8/10
PS: Teddy bears have incredible upper
and lower body strength as shown from this movie.
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