a seriously funny and surprisingly touching story about a man and his outrageous best friend, who just happens to be a teddy bear

Rating: 7/10 (10 July 2012)

I couldn't help but feeling a certain amount of caution when going to see Ted. While the trailers had pretty funny moments, and reviewers and friends alike were giving the film glowing reviews, I was a tad worried I'd be in for another "cute but naughty thing that shouldn't be talking" story, as seen in Alf or Paul or Look Who's Talking? orwell, let's just say it's been done before. In fact, there's a good amount of evidence to support that Seth MacFarlane would tell that story when you consider the characters of Stewie and Brian in Family Guy, Roger and Klaus in American Dad, and Rollo in The Cleveland Show.
But like those characters (specifically Stewie and Brian), MacFarlane navigates skillfully between obvious jokes that come from having a character be a baby or a dog or, in Ted's case, a teddy bear, and jokes that are actually hilarious because of well-crafted characters. While the "cute but naughty thing that shouldn't be talking" has been done before, MacFarlane's handling of it is fresh, funny, and surprisingly touching.
Ted begins with us meeting young John Bennett, who will grow up to be the loveably dopey Mark Wahlberg. Poor John has no friends except for an over-sized teddy bear who he never lets leave his side. One night, John wishes for Teddy to be alive, and wouldn't you know it, a shooting star magically grants him his wish. John is ecstatic his wish came true and that he finally has a friend, and while his parents are initially scared shitless by the talking toy, they quickly accept him as a miracle and part of the family. Soon word gets out about this living teddy bear, and he becomes an overnight worldwide sensation, appearing on the cover of Time Magazine and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. But as the years go on, the phenomenon fades and Ted becomes another celebrity who's fifteen minutes of fame have ended.
But one thing doesn't change, and that's Ted's friendship with John. The two are still the best of friends, living and smoking and watching Flash Gordon together. Ted is not John's only friend anymore though, not since he started dating Lori (Mila Kunis) four years ago. With Lori and John's relationship beginning to enter the next level of commitment, John must learn to grow up and put away childish thingsonly he doesn't want to, and neither does Ted. Even after Ted moves out, John's constant hanging out with him and irresponsibility begin to drive a wedge between him and Lori. And if this weren't enough, Lori's asshole boss, Rex (Joel McHale) is continuing to make advances on her, and a creepy fan from Ted's celebrity days named Donny (hilariously played by Giovanni Ribisi) seems to be stalking the talking bear.
For the rest of the review (IMDb form too short) visit: http://custodianfilmcritic.com/ted/