Supremely funny if over dependent on pop culture gags

Rating: 7/10 (21 August 2012)

Ted is a film that if you didn't know it was headed by Seth MacFarlane, you would after about five minutes if that. The premise about a Teddy Bear growing up and living with a man is one that has been utilised very well. It does not hide from the fact that it is a very silly premise and does in fact celebrate it. Where the film has its weakness is where the humour is almost too synonymous with MacFarlane. A deluge of 80's nostalgia and pop culture gags reach the forefront of the film. If you do not like this sort of humour where there are references galore, some of which are a little too in your face and out of place. It depends on the patience you have for these pop culture gags. In Family Guy they can be prone to becoming severely out of place and too random to be funny. In Ted though they are, at least for MacFarlane kept in moderation. The leads in Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis do very well and seem completely natural in parts that would be difficult to play otherwise. Wahlberg especially stands out and gets just as funny as Ted himself. Ted (voiced by MacFarlane) is of course the stand out character, his only flaw is possibly that his behaviour is too predictable at times, regardless he is very funny and does actually provide many laugh out loud moments. Plot wise it takes very predictable turns but its just a fun comedy and I anyway at least got over the fact relatively quickly. The film is funny, its key weakness is just that the humour is effectively very concentrated.