8.13.2012

Ted


Alright, after two positive reviews it was bound to happen. A film that I did not like. And from the sound of it, I appear to be the only one.

Lonely child, John Bennett wishes that his teddy bear could come to life and be his friend. Surprisingly, this wish comes true over the Christmas holiday. John and Ted stay best friends even as word of Ted's miracle spread. Ted becomes a celebrity, but through it all, Ted remains a true friend to John.



Flash forward to present day, where John and Ted are still friends. They smoke weed together while watching Flash Gordon, even as John's loyal girlfriend Lori feels pushed aside. Lori is understanding of John and Ted's unusual friendship, but as in most films like this, Lori wants her relationship with John to move forward. For their relationship to go to the next level, that means separating John and Ted. The story follows Ted and John trying to separate their friendship and Ted trying to live on his own.

I know I am in the minority here, but most of Ted I did not find funny. I am a fan of Seth Macfarlane, Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis but this film just did not pull me in. It was a weird experience watching this film. I went in, really wanted to like it. A few chuckles here and there and then it ended. I walked out not hating the movie, it just did not generate many laughs from me.



This is not to say the film is entirely bad; the performances are fine and the motion capture for Ted is quite seamless. The screenplay is very haphazard and most of the jokes and surprises do not work. The structure of the film is almost as odd as it is predictable. The film follows the basic structure of most romantic comedy films as Lori wants to be married, John doesn't feel they are ready and the two of them deal with this problem until the predictable resolution occurs.

The part of the story that drew the most interest from me is a subplot involving Giovanni Ribisi. This is a hit-and-miss subplot as it is unusual and doesn't fit the tone of the rest of the script. Even more strange about this subplot is that this subplot kicks in once the main plot thread has already been resolved. The Ribisi subplot almost feels like it was forgotten and then they just stuffed it into the end of the script to resolve this plot thread.



Like I said, I appear to be the only one to not like this film. I didn't hate the film, but I think the script really wasted what was a promising idea. The effects in Ted are really well done and everyone in the film really tries their best. Judging by the box office, my review is way off balance. It's just my two cents.

3.6/10


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