Ted (2012)

I am one of those strange people in the world who has never seen Family Guy. It has just never appealed to me, and why watch Family Guy when you have The Simpsons? Anyway, that's not the point I was trying to make. What I was trying to say was the fact that this film is marketed as 'the first motion picture from the creator of Family Guy' had no influence on me whatsoever. The only reason I chose to watch this film was because one of my closest friends saw it and wouldn't stop nagging me until I had seen it too. So I rented the movie, sat in my room and gave it a watch.

Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) is the result of a childhood wish by a lonely boy who wishes that his teddy bear was a real friend. The bear comes to life the very next morning and nearly 20 years later, the two are still best friends. However, their friendship starts to come between John (Mark Wahlberg) and his girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) and John is forced to choose between his childhood toy and the love of his life.

After starting this film with no particular expectations, I enjoyed it. It was really funny in quite an original way and I was quite impressed. The combination of real life and CGI was done really well and the interactions with this bear were seamless. It is a very specific brand of humour, so anyone that is not a fan of fart jokes and humour of this type should probably avoid this film. I, on the other hand, don't mind that kind of crass humour and found the jokes entertaining and modern.

It was also good to be able to see Mark Wahlberg taking on a more comedic role. Recently, I have only seen him in action films and the occasional drama, so I was impressed with how well he adapted to a more comedic, funny role. Mila Kunis is also good in the film and the two work very well together to make this story and movie an enjoyable hour and a bit.

On the negative side, the film sometimes just seems to be sort of drifting about a bit and doesn't really have any main point at times. Also, whilst it is funny, some of the jokes take it slightly too far and could be classed as offensive which takes the edge off them a bit.

Other than that, the film is a good comedy for those not wanting to think too much about the jokes and what's happening and is worth giving a shot.