MacFarlane Genius on the Big Screen. Must See

Rating: 10/10 (29 June 2012)

I will tell you up front that I am a huge fan of Family Guy and MacFarlane and that I give this move a Bruno Wang 5 out of 5 stars. This movie is without a doubt one of the funniest films released for this year. The acting is superb and the entire premise, music, gag lines and some of the visual humor is outstanding. Even if you are not a Seth MacFarlane fan, you will definitely like this film.
I don't know exactly what it is about this film, maybe it is just the insane idea of a teddy bear that talks, but the movie will have you laughing from the get go and keep you laughing for about 1:45 mins. From a production standpoint, the idea of the big screen as a canvas for one of today's top animation geniuses is intriguing enough. MacFarlane pulls it off with finesse, style and raucous humor.
The film is about John Bennett (played by Mark Wahlberg) who is a misfit kid who can never make any friends. At the age of eight Bennett gets a teddy bear (Ted, voiced by MacFarlane) for Christmas and then wishes the bear was real so that he could have a friend for life. 27 years later Bennett and Ted are living the life of a Bohemian 35 year old partier and his teddy bear sidekick. Bennett's girlfriend feels it is time for Ted to go out on his own so that Wahlberg can grow up and get a life.
There are a lot of drug references and a fair amount of potty humor, but Ted never really goes as far as even Family Guy does in terms of the shock value humor. Instead, we are treated to the MacFarlane genius...the rapid fire use of quips, cultural references, oddly placed cutaways, perfectly placed musical themes and actual character development.
It is true that the three main characters, Wahlberg, MacFarlane and Mila Kunis (who plays Bennett's love interest Lori Collins) hold this film to a higher standard. The acting is very believable and there are actually some genuinely touching moments (more MacFarlane genius). In addition, Giovanni Ribisi plays an ultra freaky lifetime stalker of Ted and, in his pursuit to 'own' Ted for his overweight son, puts on a compelling performance as the creepy, whacked-out stalker dude. Patrick Stewart is the narrator and that just adds to the bizarre twist of class that MacFarlane brings.
The main thing about Ted is that it feels really fresh. In a sea of predictable raunchy-comedy that has flooded the cinema the past few years, Ted stands out as a true creative genius. Yes, it has some raunchy humor and 'poo-poo' type jokes, but it excels in layering smart and sophisticated humor with guttural bawdiness. This is not a 90+ minute Family Guy episode and it's not just a set of running gag jokes, this is a solid comedic milestone. Somehow MacFarlane has us totally sucked into the reality of a world where a fuzzy teddy bear can talk, smoke pot, talk dirty and have a heart. We are even treated to a monumental fight scene between Wahlberg and Ted that is extremely lifelike even though it is a grown man in a fistfight with a stuffed animal.
You can easily put this film on par with films like Team America from Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It is the modern-day Lenny Bruce-like humor that, while being dark and crass, shines a light on the parts of American culture that many would rather pretend do not exist. This is the true comedic genius of MacFarlane, he shows us what we all know, but want to deny, exists and does it is a way that makes us laugh...out loud.
I cannot stress enough that, if you see one movie this summer, make it Ted. You will laugh repeatedly for an hour and a half plus and walk out of the theater feeling much lighter for having done so. Bruno Wang will be seeing Ted more than once as the rapid fire humor of MacFarlane requires more than one viewing to get all the short little quips and one-liners.