Film: Ted

Ted is as crude as you would expect a Seth MacFarlene film to be but quite shockingly is also capable of being quite sweet at times.

A film about a talking teddy bear, it is also as much about growing up and being with the one you love while still hanging out with your old friends. Ted (Seth MacFarlene) is a pot head, a lay about who is dragging his best friend John (Mark Walberg) down with him and preventing him from totally settling down with his long term girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis). Lori wants Ted gone but John can't let go off the person (well teddy) who's been his best friend since he was 10 years old. The film succeeds best when it's focused on the relationship between Ted and John, these being where the film brings across MacFarlene's brand of humour. MacFarlene often carries the film, very few scenes without him in are laugh out loud funny. The funniest scene of the film is definitely when Ted is hired for his first job, a scene with a hilarious pay off. Walberg's character is a bit hard to keep an interest in, you'll mostly just wish he would grow the hell up.

The scenes with Lori often feel a bit of an afterthought, which is disappointing as she is meant to be one of the main characters. Additionally while at times it's easy to see Lori's point of view (as John is a bit of a dick), at others she seems like a bit of a bitch. Kunis isn't really given a lot to do other than be annoyed or upset, hardly giving her much chance to develop as a character.

As with Family Guy, the jokes in the film are very hit and miss, luckily normally ending on the hit end of the spectrum. For many people some jokes will be hard to follow, particularly ones focused on pop culture from 20/30 years ago. There are also a surprising amount of gay jokes, none of which produced any laughs in the cinema, just being a bit lame. There is a whole gay subplot which is clearly meant to be funnier than it actually is.

Additionally the film's last act creates some peril which is briefly hinted at throughout the film but to the point where you could easily forget about it. It is basically a simple reason for John and Lori to realise they need Ted but it feels very out of left field, basically turning in to an action film for about 10 minutes.

The film is eventually able to bring all the story strands together in its finale but the middle section is a bit awkward. The ending is unfortunately quite predictable even if it also very sweet. As a whole the film ends up being very funny if not a bit too random for its own good.