Ted Review

     Seth MacFarlane, creator of the infamous Family Guy, has now started film-making, and Ted marks his first foray into cinema. Before I get into the review, I'd just like to say this film more than earns it's R rating. It's crude and lewd, but at the same time, hilarious. If you are skeptical of such things, you'd do well to avoid Ted, otherwise though, read on, right after the jump!
     Ted is the story of a child, a young boy with a simple wish, to have a friend. This brought to life his favorite plush playmate which made for a fantastic childhood, but in his later years it's left Mr. John Bennet in a state of arrested development, much to the disappointment of his four year girlfriend Lori, played by Mila Kunis. 
     I'll just be out right with it, Ted is HILARIOUS. The film takes a no-holes-barred approach, politics, races, gender, weight, drugs, religion, it touches every taboo topic, but does so with non-stop laughs. I would seriously suggest against buying a beverage for this film, unless you plan on spraying soda all over the three rows in front of you. The film is just funny, so much that you may have to strain your ears to hear dialogue following a joke, which is just another testament to the film's hilarity. The humor is very much in the vein of Family Guy, but thankfully not too similar. While the jokes do rely on short, funny flashbacks and raunchy shock humor, it feels thankfully unique in the film. These are new characters we see, not a rehashed member of the Griffin family, despite Mila Kunis voicing a member of the household.
     The film relies largely on it's few leads for the comedy, and thankfully this pays off in the movie. Mark Wahlberg shows an ever growing eye for comedy and comedic timing, and he plays off his character's fake furry friend believably, and just as well, if not better than he did with Will Ferrell in the Other Guys. The fact that Ted is a vulgar, stoner, Bahston-accent speaking teddy bear never gets old either, and continues to make funny jokes hilarious for the extent of the film. Ted also benefits from a few rather surprising and shocking cameos, which make for some of the more subtly funny jokes in the film. I'd caution you from going on IMDB.com and spoiling the surprise, as you're in for a treat if you go in to the theater with no prior knowledge.
     The background plot of the film is more than familiar, a formula that made ground for films like I Love You, Man, and those thereafter but it works. Ted is almost in a way a bit of a love story rom-com, so use that as another talking point for getting your girl to go. In all seriousness however, I was a bit pleasantly surprised with some of the rather touching and fuzzy moments of Ted, which seemed to bring it back down to Earth for a few moments, in between the laughter. 
     While certainly not for the faint of heart (as it likely makes fun of heart disease at some point, I can't remember) the film is surprisingly hilarious and heartfelt at the same time. Ted somehow uniquely is able to offend it's audience while overwhelming them with laughter, and it makes for one very funny movie.