High concept comedy that's already gaining the cult following it was meant to

Rating: 9/10 (9 June 2013)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
As a young boy with no friends, John (Mark Whalberg) wished his teddy bear would come to life, and was over-joyed when he did. However, as he's grown up, the bear has stayed alive and grown up with him, turning in to a drug smoking, foul mouthed, lecherous creation who still serves as his best buddy. However, John's girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) thinks it's time he moved out, forcing John to make a tough decision. Meanwhile, the creepy Donny (Giovanni Ribisi) and his even creepier son lurk in the background, harboring a disturbing obsession with Ted.
Nothing inspires comedy like absurdity, and the wackiest, most far out ideas are usually the ones that take longer to get your head around, but usually produce the best results, simply because of how, well, insane and far fetched they are. So in many ways, Seth MacFarlene (whose hugely successful Family Guy is just something I never got in to, a la Futurama) had a certified cat in the bag when he hit on the idea of Ted, which opens with a whimsical childhood fantasy coming true plot line in the vein of the 80's Tom Hanks vehicle, Big, but which opens out in to a far more adult oriented, risqué comedy vehicle that seems hell bent on pushing boundaries of taste and decency as far as they can go.
In the lead role, Whalberg's a generally intense actor, better suited to more dramatic, tough roles, but that's not to say comedy is out of his ability, and he's perfectly convincing as a thirty plus slacker who's grown older and irresponsible with his, er, friend. MaFarlene serves as voice duties on the titular not so cuddly bear, and gets to further inject his already filthy story with his own cutting style. Meanwhile, Ribisi is a genuinely creepy villain who could actually have made this role work in a less light hearted film.
Sharp, cynical, leaving no stone of taste or decency unturned and leaving no popular culture reference unlampooned, Ted is one of the more ridiculous, unbelievable ideas for a film in recent times, but one which has obviously produced the expected results. I've taken my time getting to review it, but at least I know I'm in the agreeing team with it. ****