Finally, a good use for CGI...

Rating: 8/10 (2 May 2016)

This is the story of a 35-year old guy named John Bennett, played by Mark Walhberg, who's victim of such a common syndrome in people of our generation, he's an "adu-lescent", basically, an adult who refuses to grow up, and keeps on enjoying a hedonistic life made of sex, drugs and house parties. I don't know if the word is used in English, but anyway, think of Judd Appatow's comedies' male protagonist and you'll get the point. And this John Bennet leads his hedonistic life with Ted, his 27-year old best friend. But John has a job and a beautiful girlfriend named Lori Collins, and played by Mila Kunis, who wants to make plans with him, but he must show that he's capable of being an adult and convincing Ted to let him live his life. That's "Ted" in a nutshell.
Oh yes, and Ted is a Teddy Bear. One of the most memorable CGI creatures of recent years, who provided Mark Walhberg one of his greatest roles, in the same vein of touching weirdness and comical performance than the late Bob Hoskins in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".
I can imagine Seth MacFarlane pitching the film to the producer, a few sentences and you can hear a cash-machine sound in the background. Just when you get the story, a man whose best friend is a talking teddy bear, you understand it is a comedy of opposition, think about it, a big, smiling, cute and fluffy teddy bear, symbol of childhood and innocence, acting like a horny foul-mouthed animal party, this is an offer a producer can't resist to. But from our experienced viewers' perspective, as promising as the synopsis sounds, we wonder how long such a gimmick can be maintained before losing its appeal. MacFarlane is a terrific writer when it comes to animated sitcom episodes (such as "Family Guy" or "American Dad") but there's no fundamental difference between the premise of "Ted" and "Howard the Duck". "Ted" could've been a disaster.
Or "Ted" could have been 'just a good film', but guess what, it's slightly better than that because of how surprisingly good it is. Actually, what could have been the basis of a sketch or a "Family Guy" manages to drive a story-line of a hundred minutes in an exciting and entertaining way. And this is owes a lot to the fact that Ted is handled like a full and three-dimensional character from the very start. The film opens in 1980 when a friendless boy (so alone he's even mocked by the poor Jewish kid who's getting his annual Christmas beating) and when he gets a Teddy Bear, he makes a predictable wish which predictably becomes real. Ted speaks, much to his buddy's delight and his parents' horror, but then the magic of Christmas operates, what happens next, within the film's fantastic universe, is handled with very smart realism.
No, the parents don't hide Ted, why should they? Ted becomes a local oddity then an instant celebrity, invited to the Johnny Carson's show, and so forth. And then like many 80's wonders and other 90's stars such as Corey Feldman or Frankie Muniz, he sadly sunk into oblivion. And after that, this is where the film won me. I thought John would get rid of Ted and then the teddy-bear would come back to his life, but would have that made sense? Why would you even lose your best friend, one that understands you perfectly, one that grows an intense complicity with you and one who was raised on the same cult-programs than you? No, Ted remained his friend and very much his friend for 27 years, and when we meet them, they act together like true bros, Ted might be a gimmick for us to discover, but he's a fully developed character nonetheless.
The film takes a departure from films like "Howard the Duck" or "Paul" where the strangeness relies on Sci-fi elements. The fantasy here allows the film to get away with all the 'why's and 'how's and spare us some distracting special effects. Here, the plot centers on relationships, and the way love can undermine friendships and vice versa. And when you suspect it will be impossible for Ted to leave John's life because he's got nowhere to go, the film takes you by surprise by making his independent life absolutely possible. The screenplay, written by Macfarlane is the best asset of the film, because it creates unpredictable situations out on predictable material. There's no scene that hasn't been seen before, but in "Ted", it works because it doesn't try to be original, it just sticks to Ted's irresistible personality and the contrast with his appearance.
Of course, there's a lot of things happening in the film, a mysterious buyer obsessed with the Bear and played by a creepy-looking Giovani Ribisi, there's Lori's boss and occasional stalker whose efforts to conquer her hearts always meet with answers you never really see coming, there are also one of the most memorable cinematic parties with a mysterious guest star, and of course, there are some delicious interactions between Ted and characters of female persuasion, even a nice cameo as one of his ex's, one you never see coming. This is a film that is really caring about making us laugh and manages to take a concept à la "American Dad" (one of the best written animated shows) and make a story out of it, one full of crazy one-liners, raunchy but never vulgar dialogues, or never vulgar at the expenses of humor, and one of the funniest concluding voice-over monologue.
And beyond the laughter, Ted is humanized in such a way you can't look at him as a Teddy Bear, but he's so cute and adorable you can't ignore that. What a fascinating paradox!