Review: Ted

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TedA man, his girlfriend and his teddy bear walk in to a bar. The bear sits down and orders a margarita ... Whoa! What did you just say? The teddy bear orders a margarita? Come on, now, what kind of joke is this? This is no joke! This is Ted, the newest creation from the fertile comedic brain of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane

The movie Ted opens with young John Bennett making a wish that his teddy bear be brought to life. As a shooting star flies overhead, little John's wish is granted. Ted is brought to life and our adventure begins.

The world soon learns of Ted’s existence and people want to hear his story. The little bear appears in magazines, news interviews and is even invited to be a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. The opening scenes of the film are accompanied by a hilarious voiceover provided by Captain Picard himself, Patrick Stewart.

The film then moves quickly to the present day. The adult John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) and Ted (voiced by MacFarlane) are two foul-mouthed boys from Boston, who spend their day watching TV, smoking weed and eating Pringles. Yep, the teddy bear is a raging pothead who likes to party all the time. John is in a four-year relationship with Lori Collins (Mila Kunis), an up-and-coming professional madly in love with him. Lori wants to move to the next step with John but is hindered by the close relationship that her boyfirend has with Ted. The core focus of the movie is spent dealing with this complex relationship.

The thought of a film with a CGI animated bear as a lead character is cause for concern. Rest assured this concern is unfounded. The character of Ted is skillfully brought to life in the able hands of skilled comedic writer MacFarlane, who shares screenwriting credit with Family Guy alumni Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. The character of Ted is believable -- you'd want to hang with him if given the chance. 

There are many other aspects of Ted that work well. The first is the CGI that brings the teddy bear to life. It does not take long for you to begin seeing Ted as a living breathing character and not a CGI puppet. When John and Ted have a serious knock-down drag-out fight, you'd think you're watching two stuntmen go at it in a scene that channels True Romance.  Another aspect that works in this movie is its score. The film is beautifully scored by Walter Murphy. The song "Thunder Buddies" is one of my favorites.

Ted is a movie that works well on all levels. So this weekend take a seat at the bar next to that fuzzy, threadbare teddy bear, and say hello. You won’t be disappointed!