Recommended

Rating: 7/10 (5 October 2017)

'TED' - 2012
Directed by Seth MacFarlane
Starring Seth MacFarlane, Mark Walhberg and Giovani Ribisi
Plot Overview: When John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) was a little boy, he made a wish that Ted (Seth MacFarlane), his beloved teddy bear, would come alive. Thirty years later, foul-mouthed Ted is still John's constant companion, much to the chagrin of Lori (Mila Kunis), John's girlfriend. Though Lori's displeasure is exacerbated by the pair's constant consumption of beer and weed, she's not the one who's most disappointed with John; it may take the intervention of John's boyhood toy to help him grow up at last.
Should this movie work? Perhaps. It has an alright premise but is dragged down by MacFarlane's frequently criticised brand of humour. I myself do enjoy the earlier seasons of 'Family Guy'{Even though it sucks now}. The balance of what it's quality SHOULD have been is right in the middle. And honestly, I like this movie. It's not an Oscar bait movie. It's not gonna change your life but I think if you sit down and watch it, and can tolerate MacFarlane's humour, you will be pleasantly surprised.
What worked for this movie. Well for starters I will compliment the cast. Seth MacFarlane does an excellent job at voicing Ted. You can argue that it's just a carbon copy of his Peter Griffin character and there is 100% some merit to that statement. But honestly, I'd argue that there are some noticeable differences between the two. The CGI for Ted was also pretty well done and reasonably convincing.
Mark Walhberg was also great in the movie. He doesn't deserve Oscars or critical acclaim but he provided a good enough performance. The supporting cast, which includes Mila Kunis, Giovani Ribisi and Jessica Barth, was also pretty great.
Perhaps the film's greatest merit is it's awesome premise. The simple concept of a toy coming alive to be your friend is simply incredible. The story surrounding this premise was pretty weak but it wasn't awful. I wish it had gone through a redraft just to refine it a bit and to fix the awful ending, but it isn't atrocious.
Humour is a subjective thing. A film can neither be funny nor unfunny, objectively. So if I tell you this movie is hilarious(which I personally think), you may not think so. All I will say is that I personally found it hilarious. If you do not, then that is your opinion. I cannot recommend this movie for the comedy but that is purely a subjective thing.
My flaws with this film? As stated before, the main two are the general plot and the ending. It is way too sappy and way too ridiculous. Comedy is also a factor but I cannot recommend it based on that. If you enjoy some of MacFarlane's other work, then I recommend this movie. The premise and acting are both solid so if you like MacFarlane's humour, you've got a trifecta of reasons to see this movie. If you cannot stand MacFarlane, don't touch this with a 10ft pole. I'll rate this film 7 'Tubby McFat***ks' out of 10.