Tonally uneven, but totally hilarious.

Rating: 7/10 (10 August 2012)

Seth MacFarlane is one unique comical voice, and he brings his Family Guy-like formula to his first feature, Ted. A movie about a bear who swears, smokes weed, and makes frequent crude remarks has serious potential. And that is why Ted deserves to be seen: It is flat out hilarious. Tonally uneven, and overly familiar, but still hilarious with hardly a dull moment. The movie provides some golden antics, especially between Mark Wahlberg and MacFarlane (playing Ted through motion capture). The delightful pop culture references are also tickling, none the least of which was an homage to John Williams' legendary march from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Joel McHale and Giovanni Ribisi provide their own laughs in supporting roles, Patrick Stewart gives a droll narration, while Norah Jones provides a couple of jazzy original songs. With his comedic resources, and a possibly stronger screenplay, you can only hope that MacFarlane will make something even better the second time he releases a movie.
***1/2 / *****