Ted

This film is rude, disgusting, vile, inappropriate, taboo.......

And that is why I loved it so much!

Essentially the film is about a teddy bear, Teddy, that can talk after a child made a Christmas wish. A child's Christmas wish is the powerful thing, but as the narrator correctly points out it isn't:

Now if there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that nothing is more powerful than a young boy's wish. Except an Apache helicopter. An Apache helicopter has machine guns AND missiles. It is an unbelievably impressive complement of weaponry, an absolute death machine.

The bear grows up, with its owner, into an offensive bear (now called Ted).

The two of them take drugs together, drink far too much and take the piss out of each other pretty much all day. But, they love each other which is one of the less comedic themes that runs throughout the film. The film is obviously a comedy, but in many ways could be construed as a weird romance involving 3 characters.

Ted loves John. John loves Ted back. But, John loves Lori. Lori doesn't love Ted (as much as John does anyway). She wants Ted out so John can finally grow up. He doesn't want Ted to go. Ted doesn't want to go. I mean it is a story as old as time itself.

You can see where Lori is coming from. Ted does bring out the younger side of John. After all who hasn't heard a child sing these (explicit) lyrics when it thunders:

When you hear the sound of thunder don’t you get too scared. Just grab your thunder buddy and say these magic words. Fuck you thunder, you can suck my dick. You can’t get me thunder coz you’re just god’s farts.

 I guess it's better in the context of the film!

If you found the lyrics offensive (which I guess they're supposed to be) or something you would not want to hear, then Ted is not the film for you. Though, the fact that it is by the creator of Family Guy would probably be enough to ward you off. That said, I'm not a big fan of Family Guy as I don't think the plots are appealing enough that surround the gags and humour.

There are many who would say the plot of Ted is immaterial to the film. I disagree. Whilst it is true the plot seems secondary to the incessant humour and jokes it is not. The plot holds the film together. Without it the film would be terrible. The jokes are offensive and would be completely inappropriate without the context of the plot. Sure, it is a simple plot, but it had me feeling for Ted, John and Lori near the end. It is important to remember that this is a film about the characters. The characters form the comedy in the way they interact with each other. A lot of the jokes aren't funny when you repeat them. That's not because they were never funny, but because it is the way the plot leads up to the joke and the characters do the joke.

Some may say that the film isn't tasteful. They would be right. With at least two references to 9-11 and many references to drugs being a normal thing to do the film is not exactly promoting good taste and behaviour. But the film isn't supposed to be tasteful. It is supposed to be politically incorrect, and a pusher of boundaries. It is an adult comedy - not some kids' film about road safety (I don't know where that came from!).

The antagonist of the film is a dad and his obese son who want the bear. The dad has wanted Ted since he first appeared on the news when he was a child. Of course, as the narrator says at the start of the film:

No matter how big a splash you make in this world whether you're Corey Feldman, Frankie Muniz, Justin Bieber or a talking teddy bear, eventually, nobody gives a shit. 

 The dad promises he would never say no to his son and so goes to great extents to retrieve Ted. What ensues is a comical, and somewhat scary, sinister fight scene.

I don't want to give too much of the plot away, or too many of the jokes away, so I think I will let the trailer do some talking.

So, it is a rude film. It has a good plot and good characters. I couldn't stop laughing. It is for those reasons I give this film 5 out of 5.

Thanks

Matt