While it's jokes are hit-and-miss to the extreme, and it is too reliant on crudeness-for-the-sake-of-crudeness, "Ted" is salvaged by good direction and a lot of charm.

Rating: 6/10 (26 April 2014)

People's opinions on the works of Seth MacFarlane tend to mainly fall within two camps. Those who like/love his work... and those who hate it with a passion. Very few people seem to fall in-between.
I'm one of the few who fall in between.
I think Seth MacFarlane is a really talented person, and a very charming guy. In particular, I enjoy his music and interviews, and some of his producing work, such as the recent reboot of the classic Science television show "Cosmos." And to an extent, I do think that there are a handful of episodes of "Family Guy" and "American Dad" that are phenomenal. ("Road to Rhode Island", as far as I am concerned, is one of the best episodes of any animated series I've seen since it's premier nearly 15 years ago) However, despite really enjoying some episodes, I don't view "Family Guy" or "American Dad" as particularly strong comedies. For me, they are basically take-it-or-leave-it. And I do have to say I really do not like "The Cleveland Show" at all.
So for me... I'm a casual fan of Seth MacFarlane, but far from a hardcore fan or a hardcore hater. I'm in between. I like some of his work... while I dislike his other work.
So I went into "Ted" fairly open. I was interested in seeing how MacFarlane's style would translate to a feature-length, live-action (well, MOSTLY live-action) film. And I am pleased to say that overall, I think "Ted", while flawed, was a successful film.
We follow John (Mark Whalberg), a 35-year-old man who has spent his life living with "Ted" (Voiced by Seth MacFarlane), a teddy-bear that was magically brought to life when John was a child. While the existence of a living teddy-bear initially made Ted into an overnight celebrity, like many people, his 15-minutes-of-fame quickly dried up, and Ted is now just a regular old crude guy. He enjoys spending his days getting high and trying to pick up women. This causes issues for Lori (Mila Kunis), John's longtime girlfriend, who (rightfully) believes Ted's childish, immature ways are holding back she and John's life together. And so, the story kicks off, as Ted and John try their hardest to grow, mature and be able to separate themselves for the sake of John's relationship, all while a creepy fan of Ted's (Giovanni Ribisi) tries desperately to get him... even if it means he must kidnap the teddy-bear of his affections.
The cast is a lot of fun. Whalberg and Kunis are a joy on-screen and have a great chemistry. Ted's voice by director MacFarlane is a lot of fun (although I think MacFarlane throws in too much crude humor through Ted, which does make him start to feel unlikable at times), and supporting roles by the likes of Ribisi, Matt Walsh and Joel McHale are also a lot of fun. In fact, I found some of the secondary characters (particularly McHale's slimy character) to be some of the most amusing.
I was very surprised by Seth MacFarlane's visual direction, considering this was his first major live-action production. I found his direction to be quite slick, concise and even stylish at times. It was a refreshing change-up from the grittier or "more realistic" approach that too many movies (even comedies) try to utilyze these days. And I will admit that story-wise, MacFarlane's script (co-written with Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild) does have a fairly solid structure, providing a decent (albeit basic) storyline where all major protagonists receive a fair balance of screen time and development. Also, the effects used to create Ted are fantastic. While he is a CG creation, the effects are life-like enough that once you get into the story, you forget that Ted isn't real, and just believe he's in the scene with the other actors. Wonderful effects work.
However, despite a strong production and a likable cast, this film does have some major flaws, which is where it has to lose a few points, sadly. And it mainly boils down to its humor and content.
MacFarlane has a very specific style of sort-of "random comedy", and his work does have a large amount of crudeness to it. And that was a big problem here. Too much of the film's humor was simply crude-for- the-sake-of-being-crude. And it felt like the film was struggling to prove how rude-and-crude it could be. And too many of the jokes were far too hit-and-miss. (Usually as a result of the crudeness.) Now, I have no problems with crude humor. But here, it just felt contrived at times. And unnecessary. And it does take you out of the film to an extent when such crass, rude humor is being shoveled into your face for no reason. I'll admit, I laughed at a lot of it, but there were several moments where I wouldn't laugh for 5-10 minutes, and would just stare at the screen, thinking "Wow, they are trying TOO hard to be edgy and gross with the jokes, and it's just not working." I really think the film would have been stronger if it pulled back during a few scenes and didn't shoehorn in so much contrived crude humor.
And sadly, that's what took this film down from a very good 8 out of 10 for me, to a slightly above-average 6 out of 10. I really enjoyed this film. But the fact that it is so hit-and-miss from trying to force in so much crude humor is a big problem for a comedy. I can't on good conscience give a comedy a higher score if there are so many dead-spaces without laughs. But I stress that I still do really enjoy this film. And I hope the sequel has a better balance with its humor.