I have
never been a fan of
Family Guy,
American Dad, or any other 'comedy' which is remotely similar. However, when I saw the trailer for
Ted, a film by the same director, I somehow lost all inhibitions and consequently, made my way to my local cinema.
So what was it that caused me to fall for a trailer which boasted an angry, foul-mouthed teddy bear?
Ted follows the story of a young boy who has no friends and wishes that his teddy bear would come to life. A few years on and we meet a grown up Mark Wahlberg who's best friend at 35 is still teddy bear who has grown up with and developed the same bad habits as him.
Willing for her non-committed, pot smoking, couch-potato boyfriend (Wahlberg) to grow up and move on from Ted, Lori (Mila Kunis) tries to separate the pair, with devastating consequences.
In my opinion, this storyline really did have what it takes to compete for a pretty good run at the box office. However, it clearly didn't go to plan as Ted turned out to be basically family guy, without Peter Griffin, although it is the same voice.
Although this doesn't mean the film was a complete let-down, it did really hinder my enjoyment, as the structure was just not that of a successful film, but that of a sit-com or a comedy sketch, with disjointed sections, a lack of flow and random scene changes that left me quite uninterested in the film and more interested in eating the popcorn.
In terms of the acting in the film, Wahlberg puts on an unconvincing Boston accent but performs well in his role as Ted's best friend, giving the film no excuse to create what could have been a brilliant storyline. However, with the dysfunctional, inconsistent plot, Wahlberg gets lost along the way and we learn that even the best of actors can't respond to Seth MacFarlane's techniques.
Mila Kunis perfomed well as the leading female within the film, however, she did appear to lack in her usual charm which has been obvious in films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Friends with Benefits.
The character of
Ted was by all means hilarious, but the script seemed to let such a great idea for a cartoon character down. I was all for the foul-mouthed teddy bear, but is it just me who thinks that this film takes this character a bit too far? I would refer to his character as humourous - but in the worst possible taste.
I would like to say it's not all doom and gloom, as the character of
Ted was often funny, witty and sarcastic. Some scenes were laugh out loud hilarious, however this was ruined by the crude and often racist jokes which followed.
Ted is however challenging to become the biggest 'R-Rated' comedy of all time, and as of August 5th, Ted has earned $280,714,000
.
However, the trailer is misleading, making it, in my opinion, look ten times better than the film you are actually presented with after you've paid £10 each to see it.
What could have been a visual masterpiece, as shown by its brilliantly deceiving trailer remains just another typical MacFarlane special, but with a lack of planning and only a few good jokes in sight.
This does not mean that the film wasn't somewhat enjoyable, though. The scene with the white-trash names and unforgettably, the thunder buddies scene had everyone roaring with laughter. Scenes like these could go down in history, but I don't think the rest of the film, nor it's plot as a whole, is anywhere near on par.
Although the film isn't without belly laughs, there is definitely something lacking. The hit-and-miss jokes fail to keep our attention, leaving us furiously searching for something to laugh at.
Such an ingenious idea deserves far better direction and production, because only then will its intelligence and brilliance be positively perceived.
Ted doesn't really work as a film, but seems like three episodes of a sit-com, unsuccessfully strung together.
Seth MacFarlane's live-action effort is nothing more than a sleezy, offensive excuse for a blockbuster and really does just miss out on being a true classic.
