From it’s opening moments of narration from Patrick Stewart, Ted establishes itself as a fairy tale where magic exists and wishes come true.
And in this case, a Christmas wish in 1985 brings 8 year old John Bennett’s gift, a teddy bear, to life.
The duo become the best of friends (“Thunder-buddies for life”) and Ted becomes a bit of a media celebrity.
Twenty-five plus years later, we find the unambitious John (Mark Wahlberg) and the pot-smoking lothario Ted (voiced by co-writer/director Seth MacFarlane) are still roommates, spending their days sitting on the couch watching Flash Gordon. Now, as John and his girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) mark their fourth anniversary together, she can’t help but feel that John’s friendship with Ted is holding him back from moving forward with his life.
I’m not much of a fan of MacFarlane’s television work, but Ted is one of the funniest movies of the year so far. Although the style is certainly reminiscent of Family Guy (shock humor, one liners, flashback fantasy sequences, etc.), MacFarlane allows a certain amount of legitimate emotion and sentimentality around all the fart jokes.
Wahlberg delivers a sweet performance and his comic timing is the best that he’s yet displayed. Kunis also makes her character sympathetic in what easily could have been a stereotypical performance. The rest of the supporting cast is very funny with some memorable moments from Joel McHale, Patrick Warburton, Matt Walsh, and Jessica Barth. There’s also an unnecessary subplot with a creepy Giovanni Ribisi as Ted’s stalker that doesn’t seem to mesh with the rest of the film.
Be on the lookout for several very funny cameos including an appearance/subplot involving Sam J. Jones who played Flash Gordon in the 1980 film as an exaggerated version of himself (I hope).
Ted is both crass and sweet, non-stop funny and a must see.
