Ted

Stitch Splitting Furry Fun

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Rated: R  Some drug use, pervasive language and crude and sexual content.
Release Date: June 29, 2012
Runtime:  1 hour 46 minutes

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Director: Seth MacFarlane
Writers: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild
Cast:  Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane, Joel McHale, Giovanni Ribisi, Patrick Warburton, Matt Walsh, Jessica Barth

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SYNOPSIS: When young boy John makes a wish for his teddy bear to come to life, his wish is granted. Years later, as an adult, John and Ted do everything together - which results in difficulties at work and with John's girlfriend.

REVIEW: Seth MacFarlane, triple-threat writer/creator/voice talent of American Dad, Family Guy and The Cleveland Show, makes his first foray onto Hollywood's silver screen with his first live-action adventure. With a script written by MacFarlane, fellow Family Guy scribes Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, MacFarlane enlists A-listers Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and a angelic little stuff bear named Ted.

As a nine-year-old boy with no friends, John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter) receives a teddy bear for Christmas and wishes that his furry friend could talk for real. When John's wish comes true, Ted (Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy) comes to life and becomes John's fast furry friend. Ted becomes a sensation, making appearances, gracing the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. But with any fleeting fame comes the life that happens after. Ted's star fades but he remains John's closest friend. A thirty-five-year-old John still has his best friend at his side, living together in the same apartment with the bear and girlfriend Lori Collin (Mila Kunis, Black Swan). While Lori works hard as an executive at her firm, John and Ted get high in the mornings, John gets to work late, and the pair continues to make juvenile decisions. When Lori tires of John's antics with Ted, she gives John an ultimatum to get rid of Ted or lose her.

Seth MacFarlane does things with a stuffed talking teddy bear that should not be shown on screen. Of course, since he is Seth MacFarlane, putting Ted and his profane antics on screen is the first thing he decides to do. The creator of the indomitable Family Guy (remember when your favorite homage to All In The Family was cancelled from the Fox network?) continues his reign of taking something cute like a baby or a dog and using that cuteness for the most vile and ridiculous situations. This time, with Ted, MacFarlane opens the cuddly stuffed critter's stitched mouth and lets the vulgarity spew forth. But he's just a teddy bear, you say? When Ted is standing in the doorway with his button eyes and upturned smiling mouth, you want to say aaah. When he talks about drugs or women or drugs or alcohol, you can't help but break out in laughter that will lead to rolling tears.

The laughs are fast and furious, starting from the beginning scene and last the entire length of the movie. In fact, you may want to avoid a packed theater altogether because the laughter is so unexpected and quick at times that you will absolutely miss any dialogue that follows! From a teddy bear being carted away from airport security because of mushroom contraband to wrongful maneuvers with a grocery store checkout line, MacFarlane, Ted and cast deliver. MacFarlane also writes in a few Family Guy-esque fantasy flashbacks involving Flash Gordon and a hovercraft ride.

Mark Wahlberg is perfect as the almost delinquent man-child John with the heart of gold and ability to make his girlfirend laugh. Like his role as a detective in The Other Guys, Wahlberg knows when to play the straight man and when to go for the laughs. The beautiful Mila Kunis as Lori is sweet and tough, knowing that laughter is more important than prestige and power. MacFarlane's voice work on a CGI furry and fuzzy bear named Ted may sound a lot like Peter Griffin from Family Guy but you will forget that fact when you see how he acts. Added to the cast is Joel McHale (What's Your Number?) as Lori's leacherous boss Rex, Giovanni Ribisi (Contraband) as a father named Donny willing to do anything to collect Ted for his own son, Family Guy alum Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagement) as Rent-A-Car co-worker Guy, and Jessica Barth (Get Smart) as a Ted groupie with a trailer trash first name.

Ted is a hilarious and light-hearted film filled with the warm stuffing of wrong words, wrong gestures, and oh-so-wrong situations. Funny from start to finish, with a little drama sprinkled throughout, Ted is as refreshing as it is raunchy. Teddy bears may be cute and cuddly, but give them a voice and a few years to experience life and you have the makings of something much more obscene than a simple Winnie the Pooh. 

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WORTH: Matinee and DVD

Contraband

The Panama Job

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Rated: R  Brief drug use, violence and pervasive language.
Release Date: January 13, 2012
Runtime: 1 hr 50 min

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Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Writers: Aaron Guzikowski, Arnaldur Indriðason and Óskar Jónasson (film Reykjavik-Rotterdam)
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Foster, J.K. Simmons, Lukas Haas

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SYNOPSIS: Although trying desperately to leave his life of smuggling behind him Chris Farraday is forced back into the 'life' in order to protect his brother-in-law from a drug lord, traveling to Panama to score millions in counterfeit bills.

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REVIEW: One of Iceland's most popular and critically acclaimed actors, Baltasar Kormákur has made an even bigger name for himself as a director (Inhale, A Little Trip To Heaven). Newcomer screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski adapts a script to Americanize a new version of the film Reykjavik-Rotterdam by Arnaldur Indriðason and Óskar Jónasson.

Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter) enjoys life as a security specialist with his own company, loving wife Kate (Kate Beckinsale, Underworld) and two young boys. Behind him are the days of smuggling, stupidly walking in his father's footsteps (William Lucking, 'Sons of Anarchy'). With his father now in prison, Chris has straightened his life out, taking his smuggling sidekick Sebastian (Ben Foster, 3:10 to Yuma) with him. But times change when Kate's younger brother Andy (Caleb Landry Jones, X-Men: First Class) takes a run from Panama for local drug lord Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi, Gone in 60 Seconds) but has to dump the drugs overboard when customs agents come aboard for a random search. With Briggs still wanting his money, Chris is forced to make the decision to get back into the smuggling trade for one last score to 'balance the books' with Briggs. Assembling a team of smugglers for the job of 'importing' counterfeit super bills, Chris reteams with Andy, just married Danny Rayner (Lukas Haas, Inception), Tarik (Kevin Johnson,The Philly Kid) and Igor (Olafur Darri Olafsson, Children) and get papers to board a container freighter captained by an all too suspicious Captain Camp (J.K. Simmons, Juno). When everything does not go according to plan, Chris needs to make some tough decisions for the job, and for his family.

Unfamiliar with the original film, I cannot compare the two. But what I can tell you is that Contraband packs quite a suspenseful wallop. Mark Wahlberg does what he does best. He kicks ass, knows how to puts a plan together, and holds to a moral center in an immoral trade. Imagine The Italian Job without all of the slick antics. The summary storyline and the inclusion of Giovanni Ribisi may make you think of Gone in 60 Seconds, but the similarities end there. Giovanni may still be sporting the scraggly, not-all-there beard, but his character's Cajun accent and brutal methods erase any thoughts of the younger brother of a boosted car ringleader. Ben Foster, as versatile as ever as Sebastian, plays opposite ends of the spectrum with equal efficiency as Chris's former sidekick, protector of Chris's family while Chris runs the job, recovering alcoholic, and building site contractor. Kate Beckinsale is beautiful as ever as Mrs. Farraday, but only pulls out her big guns once or twice when her family is threatened. When the crew hit the open waters, J.K. Simmons Captain Camp is a wiry cat suspicious of Chris and quick to show Chris who the captain of the ship truly is. And once the crew hits the streets of Panama, Chris and crew face an assortment of crazy smugglers and drug lords that make Chris's work so much tougher. New boss Gonzalo (Diego Luna, Milk) may be the same as the old Jeffie, but loco en la cabeza.

The action is slow to start, honing in on the customs agents boarding the freighter and Andy losing the drugs he was to deliver to Briggs. Then the story tilts to Chris and Kate enjoying a wedding reception for their friend Danny, proving that his legitimate life IS all its cracked up to be. Even the time aboard the freighter only holds preparation and confrontations between Chris and the captain. But once Chris and crew step foot on the soil of Panama, the story is a non-stop roller coaster ride of gun fights, close calls, double crosses, and uncertainty. There are even some laughs thrown in for good measure. One thing that Wahlberg is good at is being the straight man with the best funny one liners. The other things he is good at is throwing a good punch and getting himself out of tight spots.

Gritty, dirty and out-of-focus at times, Baltasar Karmakur keeps all the slick sharp perfectly centered action where it belongs - not in the film. He uses New Orleans and Panama as perfect rough backdrops to match the his style of filmmaking. The fight scenes are bloody and up close, a la Ryan Gosling's Drive, and there are enough twists, turns and surprises along the way to keep everyone white-knuckled and entertained for the entire second half of the film.

Slow to start, but accelerating quickly and sustaining high speed throughout the rest of the film, Contraband may be an Americanized remake, but stays away from the traps of the glitz and glamor that Hollywood adds to most of its big budget action films. The villains are ruthless or crazy, keeping Wahlberg's Chris in uncertain peril throughout and keeping the stakes at an all-time high. Smuggling may be the wrong side of the law, but you do root for Chris for the work he has to complete to keep his family safe. The ending may not be picture perfect like in Wahlberg's The Italian Job, but definitely worth the time - for Wahlberg fans and gritty action drama cineasts.

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WORTH: Matinee or Rental