Ted

What a gentleman, what a teddy bear... Or is it the other way around? Anyway, Mr. Bean wouldn't dream of a bear like this. And me neither, actually. I didn't expect any miracle from the film and that is why it surprised me all the more. I can't say that it is filled with any particularly stunning humor, but the way it is all presented scored big with me. Yes, there are profanities, and quite a lot of them, but with a few exceptions, I didn't think to say "Did they really need to do that?" Ted knows the measure, the bottomless abyss of awkward entertainment, at the bottom of which many other so-called comedies rot. The film goes around in a big arc, rages like a madman, manages to be nostalgically funny and throws around all sorts of references to E.T., “Imperial March", Indiana Jones and on and on (it even parodies a parody - the dance scene from Airplane!), including the real Flash Gordon, who's coming to the big party in person. Since I’m not even disgusted by the fecal joke, I give it four stars, because I had a really great time. (03/06/2014)

I was looking forward to having some proper laughs. In reality, however, it wasn’t so great. I don’t know whether it was the movie that didn’t sit well with me, or its humor. I just watched the movie and the fact that everything except for Mila Kunis was unlikeable made me wonder when this comedy would end. It’s not completely bad, I did have a few laughs. But I guess I thought it would be more than just a few. (17/12/2012)

J.J. Abrams’ hard work on Super 8 was for naught. THIS is the true E.T. of the current young (pothead) generation. Some situations could have been exploited better, while some jokes fall flat and would’ve needed Kevin Smith’s writing to make them work. However, roughly an equal portion of the film is truly funny, original and bold, and what’s most important – Ted will really grow on you, which is the biggest success of a movie that doesn’t try to suck up to its audience. (17/09/2012)

MacFarlane deserves 4* just for the way he deals with one pseudo-star of the Twilight franchise in the final seconds. I loved the bear, I loved the relaxed Mark Wahlberg, I loved the clever pop culture references to all sorts of things. It was a pretty nice one-off. I was also intrigued by that mom who obviously mistook the film, probably lured by the children's title, sitting next to me with her little girl. About 10 minutes in, during one of the dialogues, which was full of orals and anals, she went rushing out of the theatre :o) (29/07/2012)

Ted is the kind of light-hearted overseas entertainment of this century, it doesn’t address even the most basic social issues, it doesn’t worry about what is possible and what is not, and it doesn’t involve the viewer in any moral lessons. It's true that the proven phrase "friendship above all else" is mentioned too often, but MacFarlane always pulls it off in such a delicate way that I had to laugh out loud every time, only to quickly realise that I've seen it somewhere else before. No, Ted is first and foremost a bold blast of crazy jokes, gags and sometimes even a bit of raunchy humour, but it feels so ordinary in the performances of the two main characters that the downright embarrassing moments are rather scarce. Mark Wahlberg is likeable, Mila Kunis is gorgeous, and Ted himself is hilarious – an equal social being in the eyes of the other characters, and, in the eyes of the audience, a unique product of the postmodern American zeitgeist, burdened with an addiction to good weed and beautiful women and a love of classic blockbusters. The potential for entertainment is not fully exploited (which the even more daring sequel proves), but this film simply has a wonderfully distinctive character... 80% (15/08/2012)