Ted stars Mark Wahlberg as John Bennett. As a child, John had no friends, not even the kids who got bullied wanted to hang out with him. For Christmas one year, John receives a teddy bear that he names Teddy, of course, and it is the greatest gift he has ever been given. He wishes on a shooting star that Ted will come to life, and sure enough he does, which freaks John's parents out. Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) is a miracle and soon his story is spreading around the world, including an appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. John and Ted are inseparable and make a pact to always be friends, no matter what. Fast forward to his adult years and John is a thirtysomething bachelor who works at a rental car company. Years spent partying and drinking has made him a likable fellow, just not very motivated to accomplish much. Ted is still a part of John's life....and has taken on the same characteristics as his buddy. The first time we see Ted in adult years, he is sitting on a couch taking puffs on a bong pipe. For John and Ted, life is sitting around drinking beers, smoking dope, and watching the 80's cult hit Flash Gordon. This is fine for them, but John's girlfriend of four years, Lori (Mila Kunis), is ready for John to become more of a man and propose to her. She likes Ted, but she feels it is time for the duo to split up so John can finally start acting his age. Ted does end up getting his own place, but John finds it difficult to not hang out with his best friend and he keeps testing Lori to the point where John is forced to choose...his girlfriend or his best friend.
For the first hour of the film, I laughed as much as I have in a theater in a long time. Ted is very raunchy and there are times when you aren't necessarily proud of the fact that you are laughing, but it is very funny nonetheless. Unfortunatley, the movie goes on for another 45 minutes that is not nearly as strong. For some reason, this becomes an action picture in the end with a car chase and all that jazz. Why? It makes no sense here and really takes away from the comedy that is working so well. I think if the movie would have just stayed the course and played it more straight, this could have been one of the funnier movies ever made. But that last bit just leaves a bad taste in my mouth that I can't ignore. The acting here is all fine, nothing to write home about. Wahlberg can be likable on screen at times and he plays this role very well. Kunis seems to be along for the ride and isn't given much to do other than the frustrated girlfriend, any number of actresses could pull of a similar performance. But she is a "Family Guy" alum, so for that reason I am okay with her here. Giovanni Ribisi has a small role in the film as a father who wants to buy Ted for his son. All I'm going to say about his part is that it is SUPER CREEPY and I will never look at Ribisi the same way again. Don't get me wrong, it made me laugh, but it is strange! Overall, I think MacFarlane did a very good job here, he just messed up the ending a bit and it took away from the finished product. Hopefully he will learn from that because I'd like see more feature work from him. I love his sense of humor. Ted is very funny and if what I have said above seems to appeal to you, by all means give it a shot. This won't be for everyone though. And it's especially not for kids. Parents, please do not let your kids watch this. You don't want to be explaining certain things to them. Trust me.
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