Ted

Before I walked into the theater, I thought that "Ted" would be either very good or very bad; it really depends on 1) the writing and 2) how Mark Wahlberg is going to be able to pull this off considering this is not his genre, remember "The Other Guys".

As a result of a childhood Christmas miracle wish, John Bennett's teddy bear, Ted (Seth MacFarlane) comes to life and has been by John's (Wahlberg) side ever since-- a friendship that's tested when Lori Collins (Mila Kunis), John's girlfriend of four years, wants more from their relationship instead of being the 'third wheel' between John and Ted, who is very crude and inappropriate.
A subplot enters into the film when creepy Donny (Giovanni Ribisi) and his equally creepy son, Robert (Aedin Mincks) decide to kidnap Ted because, since they've heard of him, have been obsessed with owning him.

Others to round out the cast are Joel McHale as Rex, Lori's conceited, woman-chasing boss, Patrick Warburton as Guy, co-worker of John, Matt Walsh as Thomas, Jessica Barth asTami-Lynn, Patrick Stewart as narrator, Norah Jones as herself, Sam J. Jones as himself, and Bretton Manley as young John.

Being his first motion picture, Seth MacFarland ("Family Guy" TV series) helmed a very nice tight little film and was able to manuver his actors seemingly with ease. This was crudely well written by MacFarland, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild in that it was crude, non-PC type humor, but I believe written in a way that was not stupid, but surprising well delineated in its execution. Don't get me wrong, it had a few flaws, but not enough to dwell on. We all know that MacFarland has that tendency to play out the non-PC element in his "Family Guy" show, maybe it's the rebel in him, so it should not be too surprising to see this aspect in "Ted". Com'on, let's face it, Ted is just a cartoon character come to life on the big screen, but with Wahlberg as his co-hort, the vast character differences played off well with each other, and this is writing and chemistry between Ted and John.

I'm sure "Family Guy" is a real kid pleaser of a TV series for kids to watch, however this is really an R rated version of that show, repleat with crude language and humor and some drug use. So, folks, this might be one where you might want to get a sitter for the kiddies and go see this and be prepared to laugh at jokes you may normally not laugh at.

Out of 4 stars: 3                     Rated: R                         106min.