Sophomoric Craziness

Rating: 9/10 (17 July 2012)

I'm an old guy, but I also can take a joke. My son encouraged me to join him for this movie. I found it quite engaging. There are films that are deliberately crude, hitting the lowest common denominator. Others have deep charm (sort of the ET complex). This film manages to take that charm which we occasionally fall for, and put a bullet in its head. It is full of great lines (listen for the beginning Apache helicopter bit) and sight gags. Some don't work, but most do, and what we haves one strange film. Family Guy knows no boundaries and so it's not surprising that the film is the same. Ted is a mess. He is the victim of the fate of the child actor (although he is a rather nondescript Teddy bear). Mark Walberg is just vacuous enough to pull this off. It may be his best role because he has to show a balance of kindness and utter stupidity when it comes to his old friend. They are comrades in arms and when romance comes in, the bear is going to take first place. This is wonderfully creative and engaging. Ted should get a couple of Golden Globe nominations (I mean the bear, not the movie).