First Hit: At times funny, crude, stupid, and interesting.
Ted, a CG teddy bear, is alive because he was wished life by a young John (played by Bretton Manley) who was a friendless boy.
Ted becomes famous and is even shown on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. The Carson segment was pieced together really well. As John becomes an adult (played by Mark Wahlberg) at age 35 he’s living a stoner life with Ted. He’s got a clerk job with a rental car agency, gets high with Ted as often as possible and has a great girlfriend Lori (played by Mila Kunis).
One of the things missing from their relationship is an understanding for its existence. I didn’t sense/feel any chemistry between them. The jokes and language were crude almost to the detriment of the film. Some of the jokes went over the head of the normal audience that will see this film (“I went Joan Crawford on him”).
There aren’t that many people who know of Joan Crawford’s antics on her children. But on the other end, there was a moment where John tries to guess the name of Ted’s girlfriend which was very amusing. The acting with the CG Ted was seamlessly wonderful.
This was the technical and acting high point of the film. The overall question this film tries to resolve is; whether John will grow up enough to be an adult in his relationship with Lori? Or, will his friendship with Ted keep his life stuck as an adolescent?
Wahlberg is great at interacting with the CG Ted. Kunis is mediocre in this somewhat lifeless and pivotal role. Giovanni Ribisi (as Donny) was good as the jealous guy who wanted a Ted for himself. Jessica Barth was very good as Ted’s girlfriend Tami-Lynn. Seth MacFarlane wrote and directed this film (he’s also the voice of Ted). It is obvious that this was a pet project and partially worked and partially didn’t.
Overall: This film was all over the place and in the end forgettable.