Verdict:
Ted’s an odd movie, which is a good thing. Seth MacFarlane brings his signature style onto the big screen and it is a welcome refreshment. Unfortunately, Ted is not odd enough.
It feels like the script of the movie was written by two people. The one who wrote the funny stuff is the talented one, although the jokes do have a Family Guy feel about them, which may turn some people off. But then it’s like a different person wrote the emotional parts of the story and that guy is not very skilled. The serious dialogue found primarily in the 2nd part of the film, can be terrible. Every now and then, there was a line so cliché and bland that it was hard to believe that McFarland just left it like that. You expect some sort of a follow-up statement or a punchline from the character, but it never comes. Additionally, it is difficult to take anything seriously if it involves a talking teddy bear. If you’re going to include relationship drama, it cannot just be the clichéd conflict and resolution of a romantic comedy with its boilerplate lines because this is at odds with the raw style of Ted’s comedy.
It was cool to feel like a psychic, as the plot was becoming increasingly more predictable, but that speaks poorly of the quality. The outlines of the plot are not stereotypical, but on a scene by scene basis, it was easy to guess what was going to happen next.
That said, the actors do their job OK, Giovanni Ribisi especially awesome as the creepy villain; the movie is funny and for most part quite smart; and it has Mila Kunis in it.
John and Ted’s friendship is filled with genuine emotion.