DIRECTOR: Seth MacFarlane
CAST: Marky Mark, Peter Griffin, Meg Griffin, Hollywood's 226th Scientologist, a gay Joe Swanson
PLOT: A loner child in 'BAWSTON' wishes for his teddy bear to come to life. The only problem is, Johnny (Mark Wahlberg) has to grow up, and so does apparently, his new best friend. Soon enough, Johnny has to choose between his sweary, pot smoking, whore loving bear or a crazily-hot girlfriend who wants a ring on her finger (Mila Kunis).
From reading the above plot, there shouldn't be any question - a teddy bear or MILA KUNIS? Surely only one answer then you must be thinking. But did we forget to mention that said teddy bear is written and voiced by no other than comedy king Seth MacFarlane? Good thing really, else the film would finish in about twenty minutes.
But luckily for us, we are treated to 106 minutes of jokes about sex, farts, pop-culture and sluts. Very few of the gags don't work, most of which for us Britons will be the jokes concerning American and Bawstonian culture that we may not quite understand. But don't worry, there's plenty for all to enjoy here - even if you're not fan of MacFarlane's animated-sitcoms. Unless you're looking for an intelligent comedy which is high on dry humour or political satire, of course.
Everyone involved is completely dedicated to this, and play off of each other perfectly to create fantastic chemistry. Mark Wahlberg once again proves that he has comic chops in his first comedy performance since the flawed but still amusing 'The Other Guys'. He even re-visits his god-awful rap career when he reels off a ton of 'white-trash' names - definitely his greatest performance to date.
Kunis is solid as-usual (and so am I, 'snigger') as John's girlfriend Lori. However, she isn't given many opportunities to make us laugh; she's really just used as a narrative tool to create her man-child of a boyfriend's conundrum and to add to the surprising amount of heart and sweetness in the story. And Giovanni Ribisi's terrifyingly fucked up Ted-enthusiast offers some delirious fun, if not feeling a little too forced, swinging the final act of the film into completely different territory.
But it's the title-character who you've paid your money (or illegally downloaded) to see. Many have complained that the character is too similar to 'Family Guy's' Peter Griffin, but Ted is much more intelligent and witty. He is perfectly written and voiced by MacFarlane, with scintillating dialogue throughout. You'll end up wanting a stoner teddy bear to call your own.
With the amount of killer gags and possible show-stealing scenes, it will be impossible for most to pick their favourite moment. Whether it's a Bourne-esque hotel room brawl between Ted and John, Mark Wahlberg doing what he did best in his 'gangsta' days (and by that I mean punching a fat kid in the face) or arguably the greatest cameo ever - a coked up incarnation of the original Flash Gordon. With filthy dialogue such as 'I fucked her with a parsnip then sold it to a family with four small children', you'll be quoting from this to insult your mates for weeks to come.
Overall, Ted looks great, with the filmmakers making full use of the same computer animation technology which was also used to create a creature a little less cute than the bear in the LOTR franchise. On this point alone, and also the little fact that roughly $50 million was trusted with him, the producers must have a lot of faith in MacFarlane to trust him in his feature film directorial debut. And with a promising take at the box office so far, he's set to be a sure thing when it comes to comedy in cinema, as well as animated television. Fans will be looking forward to see what else MacFarlane may have in store to assault the cinemas with in hopefully the not too distant future.
OVERVIEW: The odd joke falls flat, but luckily the gags come so thick and fast that the laughter quickly returns. Don't let a teddy bear fool you, Ted is definitely not a long lost brother of the 'Care Bears'. This is crude, offensive, silly, but absolutely hilarious - what would you expect from the comedy genius behind 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad'? This is definitely the funniest film of the summer, maybe even the year.
****
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