Retrospective Reviews- Ted (2012)

Rating: 8/10 (17 August 2012)

After creating the brilliant 'Family Guy', the hit- and- miss 'American Dad!, and then the horrendous 'The Cleveland Show', creator Seth MacFarlane brings his off- colour, surreal sense of humour with the wonderful 'Ted'.
I'm just going to come out and say it, this wasn't as funny as 'Team America: World Police', but it was funny in it's own right, some of the jokes worked very well and I did laugh at them, some other jokes just seemed too 'Family Guy', and even were actually in the show. The story was very good and I followed it well, it was actually a very well paced story for a comedy like this. Another good thing about the film is that it didn't try to be overly vulgar, from what I remember there was only maybe 2 dirty jokes and situations, but I'll let you find them yourself. When the novelty of a talking, junkie, foul- mouthed teddy bear wears off, and the crude jokes, of course, the film is very heart- felt with a nice story about relationships and friendship and when it's a good time to grow up.
The performances were ALL done well, with Mark Wahlberg as John Bennett stealing the show (even if he shares scenes with Ted, the REAL highlight), he is funny, charming and acts very dramatically for when it's needed. Mila Kunis as Lori Collins was probably one of the weak points of the movie, but that doesn't mean that she didn't deliver a good performance. Giovanni Ribisi was hilarious as creepy dad, Donny and has a very funny but small dance scene that I loved, he had a lot of funny lines. His son, Robert (played by Aeden Mincks) was equally as funny, but just wasn't as funny as Donny. Joel McHale was the king of hateful characters in this film as Lori's perverted boss, Rex, throughout his scenes you really despise his character and wish that Mark Wahlberg would punch him in the face or something, and I'm glad that he was a hateful character because it balances the film and story arc out. Patrick Stewart, Matt Walsh and Sam Jones (Flash Gordon) are thrown in as small characters, but add a lot to the film. Finally, Seth MacFarlane's performance as pint- sized Ted was very funny and believable, too. He looked real and blended in with the scenery, and I don't know what everybody else was talking about, he did NOT sound like Peter Griffin.
Overall, I loved this film, and advise anybody with a sense of humour to go see it!
'TED'
Directed by: Seth MacFarlane
Written by: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulking & Wellesley Wild
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel McHale, Patrick Warburton, Matt Walsh & Patrick Stewart