Ted

When I was but a young thing, I had an Elmo toy that I brought everywhere. He was my best friend, and I still have him today. And sometimes I do take him out, and it's just nice to hold him in my hands. But I'm glad Elmo never ame to life, because I got into enough trouble without those kinds of hijinks. However the world of film wouldn't have family comedies without magical stuffed animals. Ted is here to show us that the adult world should try sometime too. As a kid, John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) wished his teddy bear to life. Now thirty-five, John is living with Lori (Mila Kunis), the girl of his dreams, and getting ready to pop a big question. Well, he would be, if he didn't spend all his time with Ted (Seth MacFarlane), also grown up and now super lazy and vulgar. John loves Lori, but his crappy job and childish attachement to Ted has put their relationship on the rocks. So when Lori gives him a choice between her and Ted, hijinks ensue. Everybody is already thinking this so let me say: yes, I like the cartoon works of Seth MacFarlane. American Dad! is by far my favorite, but both Family Guy and The Cleveland Show are staples of my Netflix recently watched list. The downside to this is that Ted's humor doesn't really do anything new. It earns its R-Rating and is still the funniest film of 2012 so far, and I almost peed a couple times, but MacFarlane never goes out of his comfort zone. Ted still has 80's references and dark jokes galore, and there are even a few cutaways. Still, it works. Of course now I reach the same problem I always do; how to review a good comedy. I really can't discuss without spoilers, and the jokes in Ted are worth waiting for. Actually to reach back a little, I can say that Ted isn't a movie length, uncensored Family Guy episode. Seth MacFarlane really manages to give the film its own tone and characters. And even though the voices of Ted and Peter Griffin are exactly the same, Ted is a very unique and memorable figure in his own right. The last really great raunchy hit comedy was the original Hangover. But since not knowing what was coming up next was what made it funny, I never saw it more than twice. Multiple viewings of Ted on the other hand, are definitely justifiable. Ted is the kind of raunchy (and I do mean raunchy) that one could find something new to like in each viewing. It's a very funny summer comedy that knows what it's doing and how it wants to do it. Leave the kids at home, but see Ted.