What you think of “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane could greatly affect how you feel about his live action debut. Either way, “Ted”, starring Marky Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis is a hilarious movie that goes about as far as you can go when one of your main characters is pot smoking, foul-mouthed teddy bear.
In 1985, little John Bennett didn’t have many friends. Even the kids who spent their days getting the crap beat out of them didn’t want much to do with poor John. So for Christmas, John’s parents get him a Teddy Ruxpin-like talking bear. John loves this bear so much he wishes it were real so they could be friends for ever. The next morning, wouldn’t ya know it?…Ted is real and becomes an instant celebrity.
In present day, John is played by Mark Wahlberg. The dude has a hot girlfriend, Lori (Mila Kunis) but he has a dead end job and his life is going no where fast, mostly because he spends most of his time watching “Flash Gordon” and getting trashed with Ted, who is now voiced by Seth MacFarlane. John soon starts to realize that he needs to grow up and maybe Ted is a bad influence.
MacFarlane delivers in his live action debut. He keeps the plot simple and the crude and raunchy jokes coming at a rapid pace. Mark Wahlberg proves to be very funny. But the real key to the success of this movie is that it never tries to be anything more than what it is. The whole point is to see a stuffed bear running around smoking weed and dropping f-bombs left and right. There is a bizarre side story involving Giovanni Ribisi that I could have done without but the movie is so funny from beginning to end that it doesn’t matter.
One of the reasons it works is because it sticks to its R-rating and it’s a pretty hard R with the constant array of sexual and drug references, MacFarlane has to avoid on television.If you’re a fan of “Family Guy” and the rest of Seth MacFarlane’s animated comedies, this would be a great movie to check out and have a good laugh. For a movie that is based on the inappropriate antics of a drug addicted talking teddy bear, it’s a great flick.
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Ted RED BAND trailer:
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