Bear Necessities

Rating: 8/10 (4 August 2012)

'Ted' comes from the mind of Seth MacFarlane, the genius behind 'Family Guy', one of the few American shows to legitimately rival 'The Simpsons'. It's irreverent, iconoclastic and inspired. I laughed all the way through.
Being the school loner and an only child, John forms an unbreakable bond with his Christmas bear, Ted. One night John rhetorically wishes that Ted could actually speak. At that moment, as luck would have it, a shooting star passes overhead and Ted comes to life. They grow up but never apart, which threatens John's four-year relationship with his girlfriend, Lori (minxy Mila Kunis).
'Ted' has a deliberately familiar plot and structure, but it's not these MacFarlane wants us to focus on. The bear steals the show because he IS the show. He's a naughty little bear, who swears every other word, smokes strong pot and sleeps with hookers. He's what Peter Griffin would be like if Trey Parker and Matt Stone created him.
As well as voice Ted, MacFarlane also plays him, with the aid of motion-capture technology. Taking a break from his action man persona, Mark Wahlberg is aptly cast as the adult John. Playing a 35-year-old is a touch improbable, though his scenes with Kunis are nonetheless credible.
Scatological humour is usually a sign of desperation, but MacFarlane is as inventive with his butt jokes as he is with the rest. He also reinvents clichéd jokes superbly well, which means they take you by surprise. Remarkably, 'Ted' impresses on a dramatic level, too. Ted is basically a nice 'guy', however, the celebrity life he leads is a lonely one, so he hangs on to John, his 'thunder buddy'.
'Ted' never lets up. It's gag after gag, each one coming closer to making you gag than the last. How does this film have room for such unlikely personages as Patrick Stewart, Flash Gordon and Norah Jones? You'll have to watch it to find out.
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