Ted Review

I am not a comedy snob, I just genuinely don’t understand the appeal of Family Guy.  I guess Seth MacFarlane’s sense of humor is not my cup of chai tea with cinnamon, but I do admit that I  enjoyed the first season.  Perhaps it got to a point where fart jokes and random humor just stopped tickling my chuckle-bone.  But that is not to say that I have not had at least a few giggle-inducing experiences with MacFarlane’s work since, I have just made a conscious effort to avoid it.

So then why on earth did I see Ted you ask?  Well, sir or ma’am, it is because this MacFarlane production seemed different than his other comedic ventures.  Mainly because it is…

Ted is MacFarlane’s film debut as a writer, director, producer, and star.  The story follows 35-year-old rental car salesman John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), who is forced to choose between taking his relationship with his girlfriend Lori Collins (Mila Kunis) to the next level or getting stoned and watching TV all day with Ted (voiced by MacFarlane), his teddy bear who came to life when he was a boy.  The film is packed with jokes, some clever and hilarious and some hackneyed and immature.

I enjoyed Ted.  MacFarlane took a familiar premise and made it pretty funny and consistently entertaining.  The film has the vibe of a live-action cartoon and I found it interesting to see the differences in MacFarlane’s comedic style when working with real life actors.  It turns out that there is a lot of Family Guy-esque humor but maybe a little more dialogue based bits and one-liners mixed with loads of pop culture references. At one point Ted is driving a car and almost gets in an accident so he says "That's my bad, I was sending a tweet!".  LOL.  I'd RT that. 

The acting in Ted is as good as it needs to be.  I found Wahlberg’s performance to be slightly less frustrating than some of his previous roles, even charming at times.  But I think his role would have been better suited for an actor who would be more believable as this kind of stoner slacker character.  But the dynamic between him and Kunis is fairly believable and you kind of start to sympathize with him after a while. 

Though the story does get a little messy.  There is a twist that happens too late in the movie in my opinion and the film itself could be 10 to 15  minutes shorter.  But it does have a pretty funny ending.  

Overall I had a positive experience with this movie.  A lot of the jokes were hit or miss for me, but I would say that Ted is generally a funny movie.  I will see the next MacFarlane film.

You might enjoy this movie if you find any of the following things humorous: 9/11 jokes, Flash Gordon, children getting punched in the face, farts, and Lance Armstrong… My 15-year-old self would have loved this movie. 

7/10 Thunder Buddies