John Bennett is a lonely eight-year-old boy who is not
allowed to play with the other kids whose main source of enjoyment is to regularly beat up the local Jewish
boy. However, on Christmas John gets the best Christmas present ever in the shape
of a teddy bear. John and his teddy bear become inseparable and soon John makes
a wish that Teddy could talk and the next day his wish has come true. Over
twenty-five years later the 35 year old John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) and Ted (voiced
by Seth MacFarlane) are still inseparable, but John’s girlfriend (Mia Kunis) offers
John an ultimatum.
Ted is much like MacFarlane’s Family Guy, in fact the film feels
somewhat like a series of TV episodes as the plot feels rather episodic as it
sort of plods along following John and Ted’s bromance which isn’t quite as
amusing as Channing Tatum and Jonah Hills’ bromance in 21 Jump Street. Yet there are more enough laughs to satisfy most of
those in the audience. Unsurprisingly for a film similar to Family Guy the film contains crude
humour, but lacking some of the satirical elements of MacFarlane’s TV show, but
jokes about 1980s pop culture (parodying Airplane
and referencing to Star Wars, Aliens and Flash Gordon) are the more successful. Mark Wahlberg’s laidback slacker is a good
counter to MacFarlane’s foul-mouthed bear, but their bromance does not work
quite as well as it should. The film also tries to build the relationship
between John and his girlfriend, but it does not work quite as well as the
humour as Mia Kunis just plays the nagging girlfriend (despite saying in an
interview with The Guardian she would not like to play such a character).
There are enough laughs to make
Ted a passable comedy, but there is not much more than a number of jokes that
would raise nothing more than a small laugh. The film’s slightly stop start
plot also is an issue, however Ted’s
jokes hit the target more often than they miss, plus the writers take at dig at
Adam Sandler’s latest comedy Jack and
Jill and any comedy film that does that must be doing something right.
3/5
"John Bennett is a lonely eight-year-old boy who is not allowed to play with the other kids whose main source of enjoyment is to regularly beat up the local Jewish boy."
ReplyDelete...Yep, that sounds right up Family Guy's alley.
I wasn't expecting much from this movie -- given how I've sworn off Family Guy -- but I've actually heard a lot of good things about it. Fancy that. But as I understand it, Ted isn't nearly as funny as June's big-budget comedy, Prometheus.
Sorry, couldn't help myself. Anyway, a great review.
Not a fan of Prometheus I see.
DeleteGood review, Myerla. I loved this film a bit more than you did, and I did not find Mila Kunis' character to be annoying, as I felt her 'nagging' was justified. But thats just me.
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't think this is a movie for me. I'm comfortable with both obscenity and goofy comedy, but it would take a lot to convince me a film about a full grown man with a foul mouthed teddy bear is worth watching. :-) However, I did enjoy your articulate, balanced review.
ReplyDelete