Too Much to Bear

Rating: 6/10 (7 February 2013)

This film is mildly recommended.
Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis star in Seth MacFarlane's raunch-fest, Ted, a smutty little R- rated comedy that became one of this year's biggest hits. However, the film's real star is a foul-mouthed but lovable teddy bear named Teddy. He's kinda a cross between Snuggles the Bear and Chester the Molester. Depending on your own personal taste, this comedy will either be an outrageous laugh riot or just a gross turn-off. ( I was somewhere in-between. )
The slim story goes like this: One day a little boy named John Bennett wishes that his cuddly bedtime companion would come to life and, sure enough, his wish comes true. Twenty seven years later, a grown-up John (Wahlberg) and his bud are still together, although John begins to rue that day as the rowdy Ted fills his life with enough debauchery and lewdness while ruining his romantic chances with Lori (Kunis). Of course, complications and embarrassing moments beset the characters and their bromance, including drugs, prostitutes, and other hedonistic pursuits.
That's the basic premise in this formulaic comedy which does have some funny and clever lines but more not-so-funny and, frankly, very predictable scenes as one would expect to find in this type of film. Still both Wahlberg and Kunis provide a nice chemistry and there is solid comic support by Giovanni Ribisi, Joel McHale, and the original Flash Gordon and ex- Playgirl model, Sam Jones as himself. MacFarlane deftly voices Ted and co-wrote the hit- and-miss screenplay ( with Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild ). This film also marks his directorial debut and MacFarlane has done a commendable job in all of those departments. The best moments come from the CGI which embodies Ted with the right facial expressions and movement to give him a winning personality and make the character come alive.
Ted may be off-putting and offensive to some moviegoers, but if you have a high tolerance of this sort of off-colored brand of humor and sophomoric shenanigans, the film just might be enough fun. Too often the film went for shock value and cheap laughs with a forced vulgarity as its primary goal. The film never bothers to explain or delve into Ted's transition from the cute little teddy bear of yesteryear to the profanity spewing furry lout of today. ( Now that exposition could have made the film far more interesting.) Anyway, anything goes in this movie. Everything is fair game and a comic target for MacFarlane. Ted doesn't always hit the comic bullseye, but it does aim to please those liberal-minded moviegoers in the audience. GRADE: B-