Hello everyone B here and today I am going to talk about a movie I had a chance to see over this past weekend. That movie is Ted which is about a stuffed animal that comes to life and his friendship with the guy who wished him into existence. Now I've actually owned this movie for quite some time but only got around to watching it this past weekend when going over a friends house. The movie is from the creator of Family Guy (Seth Macfarlane) and although I am not a regular watcher of that show I can't deny it's humor and that same humor shines through in this movie.
So in the opening scenes of the movie we see Mark Wahlberg's character John Bennett as a kid who is very lonely and has no friends, so on Christmas when he receives a teddy bear he wishes it would come to life and be his best friend forever. The next morning when he wakes up he finds that Ted is alive, and after scaring the hell out of his parents who want to kill The bear at first they finally accept him as a gift from Jesus. Now twenty years later is where the bulk of the movie takes place. John has a girlfriend whom he loves but still spends most of his time getting high and drinking with his stuffed animal friend causing a strain on the relationship.
So what we have here is a buddy film where the woman comes into the picture and wants her guy to grow up mentally, giving up his best friend whom she sees as a bad influence. Nothing terribly new here as far story line except for the fact that this buddy is a foul mouth raunchy little stuffed animal. From my short experiences with the show Family Guy this movie has a very similar tone and plays out very similar to an episode where nothing is sacred. Every thing from ethnic groups to fat kids is addressed and if you aren't offended by these kind of jokes you'll find yourself laughing a lot during this movie, I know I sure did. Patrick Stewart does a great job narrating the beginning and ending of the film with a very dry sense of humor I didn't know he had.
Bottom line, this movie despite a rather silly premise is actually very good with a well rounded cast and just enough of those oh shit moments you just can't believe happened to leave you wanting more. It is predictable at times and you know how it's going to end but it's a really fun ride getting there. By the way one of the funniest scenes in the movie for me involved Sam Jones (Flash Gordon) and an Asian neighbor of Teds next door called Ming, think about the evil character in Flash Gordon and you can guess where this is going. If you haven't seen Ted yet, what are you waiting for and remember just because it's about a teddy bear don't watch it with the kids.
