Ted (2012) – Review

Where to watch Ted

2 Stars

I think Seth MacFarlane is a very funny man…if you like his humor. Most well-known for the adult cartoon television series Family Guy, MacFarlane has shown he has the ability to make people laugh. Ted is no different. This film has plenty of laughs. The movie begins with a narration to convince the audience that a stuffed bear doll can actually come to life and be accepted by society. It’s a stretch, but above-average CGI effects makes this living Teddy bear believable. The story starts off innocently enough and then quickly devolves into juvenile humor laced with some raunchy wit. The plot centers around the relationship between Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. They have been dating for years but Wahlberg refuses to take the next step toward marital bliss because Ted’s misadventures keep getting in the way.

The characters in this film are rather flat, moving from one dilemma to another without much common sense to explain their actions. Scenes generally consist of setting up the characters for the next series of gags and laughs. This is forgivable as no one is going to this film expecting high drama. After all, we are talking about a universe with a living Teddy bear walking the streets and no one really paying much attention to it. I laughed a lot during the film. Yet, there were several times that I found jokes to be too raunchy or too politically incorrect for my taste. In addition, I found the humor about drug use and racial groups to be in bad taste. This is, of course, what you get from MacFarlane. He is a no-holds-barred comedy writer. If something is funny, he is likely to go with it. In short, if you like the humor in The Family Guy, you’ll like this film.

Director: Seth MacFarlane
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Giovanni Ribisi

Author Mike Chisholm is a featured writer for Moviemavericks and the founder/head writer for U.S.HistoryReport.com.