We all remember when we first watched Woody and Buzz Lightyear come alive when their owner, Andy, wasn't around. They, and the rest of the toys, would engage in adventures outside of their usual playtime.
Now, there is Ted, the foul-mouthed, marijuana-smoking party animal who happens to be a stuffed bear, and he is very much alive.
When playing with our toys, as children, we would lend our own voices to our action figures and dolls, and proceed to set up dialogues between them. In the case of Ted, he isn't afraid to speak for himself, no matter how casually offensive.
In Seth MacFarlane's directorial film debut, Ted, the creator of Family Guy brings the childhood dream of having one's favorite toy come to life, but in a considerably more mature light. With a teddy bear that relishes in inappropriate behavior, the film is a perfect cinematic vehicle for MacFarlane. But, just like several few episodes of his hit television show, Ted has its bursts of brilliance, and it's periods of unevenness.
John Bennett is a lonely boy in his suburb. He doesn't have any siblings, and none of the neighborhood children want to be his friend. One Christmas morning, he receives a teddy bear, and instantly becomes attached to him. Then one night, John wishes that his bear could talk, and the next morning, the bear does exactly that. Soon, Ted becomes a national phenomenon. Years later, John (Mark Wahlberg) lives with Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane), works at a dead-end job and is trying to maintain his relationship with his successful girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis). She recommends to John that he ask Ted to move out, in order for her and John to move on with their lives. Because of Ted's and John's 27-year-long time together, separating might be harder than both of them think.
Mark Wahlberg's performance shows that he is totally game for whatever comedy he is asked to do. He reminded me of a grown-up version of Andy from Toy Story if he realized his toys came alive and bummed around with them with some beers and a bong. His excellent ability to interact with the CGI bear reflects on the connection that the two characters have. The time the two share together calls to mind MacFarlane's character of baby Stewie from Family Guy always talking to his own stuffed bear. This relationship goes back to John's state of stunted growth, in the mental sense, and Wahlberg is able to bring out the sense of a boy trapped in a man's body. His Boston accent and tough-guy build make, along with his dependency on a stuffed bear's company, an ironic pairing.
Ted is a delightfully twisted entity of a children's toy instigating partying and full-on debauchery; he's not afraid to go too far. He is an example of a childhood wish gone both right and wrong; right, because John's wish came true, and wrong because he's one of the factors in John being unable to take his life seriously as a grown-up. MacFarlane uses the same voice as he does for Peter Griffin, but you're willing to forgive it because the voice fits Ted's character since, just like Peter, his lovable obnoxiousness doesn't have any boundaries.
Although Mila Kunis' character is written to have her as the serious, goal-oriented girlfriend, she doesn't get the opportunity to participate in the film's more wildly witty scenes. We know she can do comedy without the slightest difficulty. But, when you're in a film about a raunchy teddy bear and his man-child owner, you would want to get in on all of the fun that everyone else is having.
MacFarlene's, Alec Sulkin's and Wellesley Wild's screenplay is divided into a fearlessly funny first half and an underwhelming second half. The first half contains many of the film's standout moments, including Ted engaging in highly inappropriate behavior at his job, an out-of-control party in Ted's new apartment, complete with Sam J. Jones of Flash Gordon, and a furniture-wrecking fight between Ted and John in a hotel room. The second half falters because it focuses on an underdeveloped and rushed subplot of a creepy father (Giovanni Ribisi) trying to steal Ted for his son. The film could have done without it, and instead, make the whole story about John trying to come to terms with being an adult and balancing his relationships with Ted and Lori. However, MacFarlane should be commended for restraining himself from using too many cutaway gags that have become more excessive with each passing season of Family Guy.
As a director, MacFarlane has his characters say hilariously unexpected things and brings in his signature love of the '80s by using pop culture references, such as nods to Top Gun, Airplane! and Flash Gordon. With this being his first directing job for a feature film, it's an admirable effort with another storytelling medium. He just has to work on some pacing issues that this film had, like introducing certain subplots, and then not revisiting them until much later. Also, working with more people who he hasn't worked with before can help him expand (Mila Kunis, Patrick Warburton and Alex Borstein all appear in the movie, and already work with MacFarlane on Family Guy, as do score composer Walter Murphy, and screenwriters Sulkin and Wild).
Although Ted as a whole isn't as hysterical as the premise justifies, seeing it just for the first half is entirely worth it. Watching a stuffed animal fall into R-rated shenanigans is a novelty in the comedy genre, and I wouldn't mind having MacFarlane pull Ted out of the toy box again.
Final grade: B
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