Ted

Ted – Seth Macfarlane – As a transition from popular TV animations (the rightfully successful empire of Family Guy, American Dad and the questionable spin off: The Cleaveland Show) to film, Ted is almost exactly what you would expect. It offers the same quick-witted observational, scatological, insulting and sexual humour that Family Guy delivers – just with the compromised momentum of simultaneously providing a functional cinematic plot. It deals with its tongue in cheek fairy tale template pretty well (within the bounds of being a watchable comedy)-one is just felt mildly disappointed that the comedic edge (now less edgy due to Family Guy immunization through familiarity) could not also be extended to the film’s narrative. It wouldn’t be unthinkably daring to base a story around something other than the predictable mecca of matrimonial bliss – and yet, it seems impossible to escape. Such an escape would help make the film stand out. Instead a likeable Mark Wahlberg and impossibly attractive Mila Kunis (so very far from her cartoon incarnation ‘Meg’) are steered towards the, painfully inevitable, conventional happy ending of their romance. If the risk-taking sting of Seth MacFarlene’s comedy (which is less extreme here than in his animations) could find a similar cynicism and biting wit with which to shape the narrative, the film could feel less like the exploitation of clumsy plot devices for the sake of a handful of gags – and instead an original gag filled original film. Unfortunately it feels as though the film’s comedy succumbs to the same lame structures it so competently mocks. As a result Ted often feels unnecessarily slowed for condescending plot devices that should, in the tone of its comedy, be points of ridicule and not rules to respect. However, as an entertaining comedy it is certainly enjoyable and frequently very funny (easily appealing to an already established sense of Family Guy humour), it is just unlikely to stay with the viewer long after watching. 7/10