Enjoyed a lot

Rating: 7/10 (1 January 2013)

John Bennet (Mark Wahlberg) an antisocial 8 year old wishes on Christmas that his bear Ted could actually talk with him. A miracle happens and his wish comes true. At this point you might expect an E.T.esque movie like nobody else knows anything but little John and the bear. But it becomes a legend with Ted appearing in Late Night Show and being the talk of the nation. When John is an agent at a car rental company in his 30s, Ted as his sidekick (with the voice of Seth MacFarlane) grows up into a full functioning adult living in Boston, smoking pot, messing up with girls and cheering for Bruins, Patriots and probably Celtics. They all live in John's girlfriend Lori's (Mila Kunis) apartment in a posh downtown neighborhood. John is cool with his low- profile job and irresponsible lifestyle with his best buddy Ted but a problem is likely to occur when Lori wants him to be more serious with his life and proceed to a next level in their four year relationship.
With all the absurdity it suggests, this is how the movie develops into something spectacular. Ted is not your ordinary comedy movie. We know Seth MacFarlane and what a great job he does in Family Guy. With spontaneous jokes, unexpected flashbacks, awkward moments and profanity at the right places, this movie is like Family Guy in live motion. Yet you don't get a hint of Peter Griffin or Brian although the voice is the same as Ted's.
This shows how well the character development of Ted in this movie is thanks to MacFarlane as the writer and the director. Not only a humanoid with bad habits, Ted even has some political views given away by his racial comments about Jews, Mexicans and Muslims like a random dude somewhere in the US would do. You don't see Ted as a toy anymore, nor is the plot surreal. The film somewhat owes this to the computer graphics team. The animation is so good that it feels like there is an actual toy robot doing all the acting.
Also the chemistry between John and Ted is a big contributing factor for this. Surprisingly he has a better chemistry with Ted than he has with Lori. Actually that is what is supposed to be in the movie. Wahlberg is more sincere with his partner in this movie than he has been in his previous ones including Fighter.
One thing I don't like about the movie is the lack of consistency. The movie has touches of comedy, drama, action and thriller but all served separately. First hour is a near perfect silly- comedy, maybe the funniest of the year but then the drama kicks in and the pace of fun drops quite a bit. Finally the film turns to be a thriller at the end. The last part contributes to the absurdity and adds up to the movie but there could have been a better mingling between these parts.
Having said that, MacFarlane does the thriller part brilliantly. It feels like good and evil from a typical Disney cartoon incarnated in the heroes and villains of this movie. In a sense the director is transplanting the movie to a cartoon in the viewer's perception and memory. In his debut motion picture, Seth MacFarlane shows a great skill and a big potential to spice up the genre.
One last note With all the profanity, drug use and sexual content you probably don't want to see the movie with the kids! For more of these see the unrated version if you have any chance.