Ted

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is Ted.

Directed by Seth Macfarlane.

Written by Seth Macfarlane, Alec Sulkin & Wellesely Wild.

Screen Story by Seth Macfarlane.

Review #162

MPAA Rating: R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, and some drug use.

Runtime: 106 min

Cast

Mark Wahlberg ... John Bennett

Mila Kunis ... Lori Collins

Seth MacFarlane ... Ted (voice)

Joel McHale ... Rex

Giovanni Ribisi ... Donny

Patrick Warburton ... Guy

Matt Walsh ... Thomas

Jessica Barth ... Tami-Lynn

Aedin Mincks ... Robert

Bill Smitrovich ... Frank

Patrick Stewart ... Narrator

Norah Jones ... Herself

Sam J. Jones ... Himself

Tom Skerritt ... Himself

Family Guy is a show that's an acquired taste. In fact it's kind of like Terrence Malick's recent film The Tree of Life. You either love it or hate it. There's no middle ground. Malick made sure of that with his latest and Macfarlane does that with his show as well. So with his first venture into a feature film....a live action feature at that. The question all Family Guy fans asked was could he create the same humor on the big screen that he does so well on the small screen. The answer is a resounding yes.

Does that make Ted a good movie? Yes but just barely.

Plot


As the result of a childhood wish, John Bennett's teddy bear, Ted, came to life and has been by John's side ever since - a friendship that's tested when Lori, John's girlfriend of four years, wants more from their relationship. 

One of the things that makes Family Guy so funny is the envelopes it pushes every week. Absolutely nothing is off limits. I still can't believe it's still on the air. Being on the FOX network clearly helps. But some of the stuff they have brought up can be cringe inducing. The popularity of the show just re-enforces the fact that we as a society have a sense of humor and don't spend all day taking stuff seriously. This has allowed Macfarlane and his team take the ball and run with it until somebody decides to stop them. Ted follows the same blueprint that makes Family Guy such a success.

This is both the film's triumph and downfall.

On the plus side. The humor in Ted is in keeping with the wit and raunchiness that Family Guy employs. The jokes are pretty fresh and slick. Macfarlane finds a way to make his go to comedy topics feel new. A big part of that has to do with the misguided nature of Hollywood's rating process. You can drop F bombs every 3rd word in the film without consequence. Show a fully nude woman and your facing an MPAA appeal board. Some of the punchlines are pretty hysterical. Especially when they are uttered by a talking stuffed bear.

Here's where the film really works. Ted drives the film through it's ups and downs. He has the best jokes which is great but his timing is better. His banter with the human characters create powerful comedic moments that you can't help laughing when he says something. In fact some of the jokes stay with you long after the scene ends. This happened to me at least twice. I was still laughing at something that happened 10-15 minutes ago. I couldn't get the joke out of my head.

The scene with Ted and the grocery store manager was priceless.

This is thanks to Macfarlane's performance. Ted is no different than any character on Family Guy. In fact you could make the argument that he's modeled after Brain. Only much more vulgar. He gives Ted a believability to live among the "real" world through a very simple yet clever opening montage that explains his existence. This allows Ted to "live" like anyone else. That in turn gives his jokes more credibility and laughs.

The problem with Ted isn't the comedy. It's the story that surrounds it. The main plot is fine. There are a couple of subplots that bog down what should have been a much simpler story. This is what drops Ted down a couple of points. I think this has something to do with the fact that Macfarlane is used to writing for a 30 minute show. With Ted he had to triple the runtime and in doing so he created some secondary stories that seemed forced and out of place. I could be way off on this theory but that's what it looked like to me when I was watching these scenes. I won't say exactly what they were but you'll see it when you check the film out.

It's obvious.

Another thing Macfarlane tried to do was give Family Guy fans a little homage. He did a couple of cutaway scenes that gave more explanation to the story that was being told by the characters. In Family Guy, these cutaways are very off the wall and over the top. That only happens in 1 scene and it didn't work at all. The other 2 times it was OK but unnecessary. This is what was the biggest disappointment about Ted. Macfarlane and company had the chance to break away from the Family Guy mold. Instead they went halfway and at times it felt like a cop out. It's too bad because Ted was a good film that could have and should have been great. The comedy will move it along the popular bandwagon and that's a good thing.

Being a fan of Macfarlane's work I was hoping for a little more and instead I got a little more of the same.

On the 5 star scale. Ted gets 3 stars with a "Go See It!" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today. Up next is The Amazing Spiderman.

Until next episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"