Ted (2012)

Director: Seth Macfarlane

If it wasn't for Judd Apatow this movie would have been one of the comedy highlights of this year, but the raunchy R-rated comedy is something we've seen so much of recently that it's not as shocking or hilarious when we see it now. You might initially think that if Family Guy was allowed to do whatever it wanted without any television restrictions it might be better, but Ted is basically that, and it's really not that dissimilar from Family Guy. Like Macfarlane's television show, there are moments where the movie is absolutely hilarious, but also like the show there are moments where the pop culture references and "politically incorrect" ethnic jokes just drag on.

The best parts of the movie are definitely when Ted interacts with Mark Wahlberg's character, where they're just sitting around and interacting. Even the initial story about Wahlberg's character having to choose between Ted and his girlfriend is actually not bad, but the final act of the movie becomes some weird thriller that is basically Macfarlane trying to be cinematic for the sake of being cinematic. I certainly laughed a lot while watching, but I also laughed a lot during 21 Jump Street, but that movie was much more clever and had better performances. You'll probably laugh quite a bit while watching Ted but unlike 21 Jump Street it's not one of those comedies that sticks around afterwards.

Grade: C