Ted (2012)

Why exactly would anyone enjoy this movie? The realities of adults, the deal with growing up and moving on. There are many people who value their childhood so badly that they find it so hard to let go. John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is no exception: his best friend has always been a teddy bear which magically comes to life even in a world of realities. This teddy bear is just like a teddy bear from a Toy Story movie, except it has a personality of Family Guy's Pete Griffin because he is voiced by the same person who voices him, Seth MacFarlane. So crude humor and reality check are the themes of the movie.

So the beginning of the movie prior to the credits is accompanied with a narration which is typical of any Christmas story or any magical fairy tale. As it shows, young John Bennett is not so good with kids of the neighborhood; friendless and rejected. He longs to have a friend and when he receives a teddy for Christmas, he is joyous and wishes for it to talk. When he does talk, it at first churns horror but later raises the spirits of many who witness this as a Christmas miracle.  This phenomenon sweeps the media and creates euphoria like wildfire. The reaction is hilarious and everyone treats Ted as a celebrity. The narrator is not wholly typically child-friendly, for he delivers a quote that reflects the reality of celebrity: it never lasts forever. It becomes a fad which dies down after some time, and Ted ends up as an everyday individual. 

John has a girlfriend named Lori (Mila Kunis), yet he still lets Ted interfere with their relationship. The last straw is drawn when Ted invites several hookers to Lori's apartment, one of whom makes a horrid mess on the carpet. Unsurprisingly I initiates hilariously heated disgust and horror from Lori, with her having to clean up the mess while John watches. It is pretty evident that John is still not man enough to do it for her, so much of a child that even Lori's boss, Rex, hits on her at work. Why else wouldn't he? John's a 35-year-old man-child who still affiliates with a teddy bear even when he is at work and never objects. Being a man he is not, Lori finds him obstinate.

You will notice that whenever John and Ted are sharing screen time together, there are frequent instances of smoking from a bong and trading curses at each other. Normally I wouldn't see this as proper behavior, but what can I say?

John works in a car rental; Lori works for a large private corporation; Ted now works in a grocery store. Ted befriends a hot female, Tammy-Lynn who lives in Queens. Tammy-Lynn has issues with Lori because Lori condescends on Tammy-Lynn . Lori has indirectly shown herself to be snobbish and self-righteous. You could hate her for this, but she is more mature compared to John. In the meantime, a father and his son are just so obsessed with Ted that the father stalks him but not as frequent. His only makes his presence near the end of the movie, proving how dubious they are with their obsessive tendency.

This movie is full of humor you might as well find genuinely worthy of a laugh. Normally toilet humor is to be frowned at, but when someone erupts violently their reaction yields laughter from one who watches. But one scene where all that is amassed is in a scene where Sam Elliot (former actor of Flash Gordon) makes his appearance in Ted's apartment. It is surprising how Ted has invited so many people for a get-together, even if it is unclear how he knows them so well. If the evil bong wasn't enough, cocaine has to be the craze. However, it does not end there as they soon enrage their neighbor Wan Ming by breaking his wall and ruining his duck dinner. The animatronic duck and C.G.I.'ed talking teddy bear duck it out and that small confrontation alone is a compliment to the outburst from Ming himself. Genius writing to diversify on various devices instead of relying on one comical device is a merit this movie possesses to earn laughter from the audience.

Another hilarious scene is where John and ted argue over whose fault it was when Lori broke up with John. A fight ensues and the sound effects amplify the hilarity of the situation. It is a classic scene that must surely have the audience glued to the scene without distraction coming their way. A fight like this enables them to let the heat off, even if it does not escalate to murdering each other (well Ted is a soft toy, so he is more vulnerable to being torn apart).  

When I think of Family Guy, I think crude, tasteless humor and blatant innuendo. This movie reinvents the vision of MacFarlane and churns out a reflection upon adulthood. A movie with a plot, whether solid or not, can look into itself and redirect its focus. John is a man and not a child, who soon realizes what he never had until it was gone. A C.G. teddy bear interacts with a full grown man in such a way it can be hard to understand how it could ever be achieved. It can a wonderful experience how characters can be sympathized with and how they look into themselves and try to rectify their predicaments.