Ted

Mark Wahlberg’s seamless transition between comedic and dramatic roles is becoming quite impressive. In Ted, he plays a 30-something year old who is beginning to think about settling down with his long-tome girlfriend (Mila Kunis). The only problem is that he doesn’t want to ditch his best friend, a living teddy bear who he wished to life as a lonely child. Of course Ted, the bear, is a smoker, a drinker and pretty much the opposite of what you’d want for a child. But since the character is voiced by Seth McFarlane of “Family Guy” fame, who also wrote and produced the film, the shoe fits.

The film splits between a parody of children’s storybook type films and the raunch-fest that was advertised. As in the case of most R-rated comedies, the plot proves less important than the sum of the jokes and situations being presented. Ted comes off as similar to “Family Guy” in its use of random pop culture references that run the risk of potentially alienating some viewers. A significant amount of time is spent discussing Flash Gordon, the 1980 cult film that couldn’t be campier. While these moments would still be funny, those who know nothing about Flash Gordon aren’t really in on the joke. This kind of move works on TV, but is tougher to pull off on a wide-release film.

The acting and those in the lead roles do well with what prove to be fairly easy characters. Wahlberg and Kunis have played these types before and have no issues. Giovanni Ribisi plays a creepy dad who wants to steal Ted for his son, as well as to fulfill his own creepy obsession with the bear. If Ribisi played this character in a crime drama it would still fit. From weird dancing to a raspy voice, it’s actually an impressive act and definitely not what I was expecting. But like I said, the comedy sinks and swims with the laughs the jokes produce. So the movie must be successful since there are tons of laughs.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.