TED: Just Don't Call Him Teddy Ruskin

TED is an offensive, raunchy, and downright hysterical film.  Like any Seth McFarlane project, nothing is off limits, drugs, alternative sex, religion, race, it’s all bashed.  Are you easily offended?  Suck it!  By the 3^rd line I was laughing my ass off and wiping tears from my eyes.   

A young Boston raised boy who doesn’t have a friend in the world gets a beloved teddy bear for Christmas.  That night, he wishes that his bear could be real.  Come morning he finds Ted standing in the doorway waiting for a hug. So begins a wonderful and life long relationship.

Fast forward to present day where we find Ted (Seth McFarlane) & John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) on the couch smoking pot and drinking beer.  John has an ok job and a patient girlfriend, Lori Collins (Mila Kunis), of 4 years.  Problem?  John lives like Ted.  The upside for a live teddy bear; living like a frat boy with no consequences.  That tends to be a downside for a grown man.  Now throw in an odd infatuation for the 80’s film FLASH and its star Sam J. Jones.  Getting the picture?

TED’s supporting cast is nothing but brilliant.  Joel McHale, Collin’s boss, ups the egotistic sleaze factor while Giovanni Ribisi, a Ted stalker, is on a level of creepy I’ve never seen before.  Add FLASH himself (Sam J. Jones) and Patrick Warburton (Puddy from Seinfeld) with his new friend, a cameo played by R…never mind, I don’t want to spoil it, and TED is ready to steal your heart and voice from constant laughter.

The general storyline itself could either fail big time or soar on the wish of a falling star.   McFarlane who directed, acted, and co-wrote TED is one reason it soars, Wahlberg is the other.  Wahlberg treats Ted as his long time best friend and ‘Thunder Buddy’ allowing the audience to see Ted as real.  Sure we see a cute, adorable teddy bear we all want, but accept his actions of the drunken, stoned, sex-crazed, cursing best friend we might see on our brothers’ couches.  I’m sure it also helps that McFarlane acted alongside cast members in a motion capture suit.

Yes, even with the cute teddy bear, TED is not a film for the kids.  Its language, stereotyping, bullying, and crudeness are laughable, but that’s not enough to make it great.  TED adds just enough heart to make it stand out and become the best comedy of the year.