A few good laughs (nothing to do with "A few good men")

Rating: Null/10 (12 October 2012)

The prerequisite for enjoying this movie is acceptance of it premise. This is not just talking about a stuffed teddy bear coming alive at a child's Christmas wish. It is also that after the initial excitement, the entire world loses interest in this "miracle". In where it happened, Boston, people walk past this walking, talking teddy bear just as if he is another John Doe in the street. Yes, occasionally, Ted still gets the celebrity nod, in being asked to take pictures together. But that would be as far as it gets.
For the audience to fully enjoy the movie, it is actually best to forget for a moment that Ted is a stuffed toy, but consider him to be a real human being. After all that is where the story become really familiar, a guy's choice between a childhood buddy and a girlfriend. And that is indeed possible, with the excellent animation and voice provided by director Seth MacFarlene (BOTH excellent, that is). Some of the scene (e.g. heart-to-heart talk between the rivals i.e. girl and bear) are downright poignant.
Mark Wahlberg, cast entirely out-of-type (you only have to think of "The departed" and "The fighter"), comes through remarkably well as the clueless kidult. Mila Kunis (best remembered from "Black swan"), while playing third fiddle to an animated stuff bear and Wahlberg (in that order), still manages to leave quite an impression, and not just because she is so good-looking. A small but good support role sees always reliable Giovanni Ribisi as a creepy man with a childhood complex fixed on Ted.
It's not that the movie fails to meet expectations to deliver a few good laughs. The funniest moment, however, may well be at the very beginning. In an establishing scene at Boston during Christmas (just before gets his magical Ted), several WASP kids follow their annual ritual of chasing down the only Jewish kid in the neighbourhood, pushing him on the lawn and start beating him. Our "young" (meaning the kid version) protagonist pushes open his front door, sees it action, approaches and asks "can a play with you guys"? The bunch adjourns briefly their proceeding, turns around and, seeing him, yell in unison "John Bennett, get lost!" The Jewish kid lifts his head briefly from the ground and joins the chorus "John Bennett, get lost".