Ted (2012)
*CONTAINS SPOILERS*
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Screenwriters: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild
Story: Seth MacFarlane
You might have seen the trailer in which a young boy wishes that this teddy bear could come to life and it does, before cutting to years later in which they have both grown up. That essentially sums up the premise of this live-action (with added CGI of course) feature film from the writers of animated sitcom Family Guy.
Ted (2012) can be seen as a comedic answer to the question of "What if Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh grew up together?" Of course, the idea of toys being alive (or coming to life) has been seen in Pinocchio (1940) and the Toy Story trilogy (1995, 1999, 2010). Also the idea of living with a bear has been seen in the books and TV shows of Paddington Bear (and a feature film is in development). To a lesser extent, there is a similarity with the opening scenes of The Muppets reboot (2011) in which the brother of Jason Segel's character is a Muppet.
The film opens in 1985 and thus welcomes comparisons with family fantasy films of that era - a photograph depicts Ted dressed as E.T. for example - and is narrated by Patrick Stewart, one of the handful of MacFarlane alumni to act in this film. In fact, the 80s has its culture plundered for most of the references in the modern day scenes, with particular focus on the 1980 version of Flash Gordon, which provides an extended cameo for Sam Jones (arguably his small role as a minister at the end would have sufficed). There is also a Saturday Night Fever (1977) spoof which is so blatantly lifted from Airplane! (1980), that itself could only be an injoke. Then again, there is I think a gag in which it's implied that John's ringtone for an incoming call from Lori is the Darth Vader theme from The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - a gag I believe was already coined by YouTube users.
As well as the MacFarlane alumni, there are other touches (besides flashbacks) such as the destruction of a motel room, which recalls Stewie beating up Brian and the Griffins' epic puking in the living room.
The film is not entirely without amusement though I cannot say I laughed particularly out loud. It aspires to be offensive and there are at least two decent-ish gross out gags (the "teddy sex" being the superior one over the liquid soap cumshots, which is perhaps spoiled by Ted suggesting out loud that he may have gone to far in making lewd gestures at a female colleague; a similar moment is when MacFarlane actually references himself by drawing comparisons between Ted's voice and Peter Griffin's).
There are some other redeeming features: it's also nice to hear Patrick Stewart speaking; Mila Kunis is in it (though Friends With Benefits is arguably a funnier film); Ted's "hooker" movie night-in looks genuinely fun; the Flash Gordon visual gags provide brief amusement but the joke as a whole is self-indulgent and lengthy; Ryan Reynold's wordless cameo. Perhaps most importantly, the scene where John tries to repair a damaged relationship with Lori also resonated in how he didn't want it to end on a bad note and wanted to stay friends.
