Ted

I love buddy comedies and there have been some great ones in the last few years with The Hangover, Due Date, and Horrible Bosses being some of the standouts. The buddy comedy aspect is what stood out to me when I first saw the trailer for the movie, but then I saw that the movie was coming from the creator of Family Guy.  I am generally not a fan of Family Guy or anything Seth MacFarlane related, so I walked into this movie with mild expectations. I was willing to give the movie a shot because you have a teddy bear getting high and drunk alongside Mark Wahlberg. Throw in the fact that the movie also stars Mila Kunis and I was willing to take a chance on this movie.

Ted comes from the mind of Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, and stars Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Joel McHale, Giovanni Ribisi, and Seth MacFarlane. MacFarlane is the writer, director, producer, and star of the movie and that is quite the impressive feat when you consider how much work it takes to just write and direct a movie. The movie revolves around the concept of a young boy, John, who wishes that his teddy bear was real and he just happens to make the wish as a shooting star is passing overhead. The next morning he wakes up to find his teddy bear has come to life and eventually the world finds out. Flash-forward 27 years and you have a foul mouthed teddy bear, Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane), and the grown up John (Mark Wahlberg), living in Boston together. They get high and drink while all sorts of shenanigans ensue.

This is easily the funniest movie that I have seen this year and probably the funniest movie that I have seen since The Hangover. Everyone in the theater was laughing out loud and that is the sign of a truly great comedy. The movie never ran out of gas and kept the laughs coming from beginning to end. This movie expertly combined several comedy genres (stoner, romantic, buddy, ect.) to make one truly great comedy movie. Seth MacFarlane certainly proved as well that his “type” of comedy is adaptable to the big screen. MacFarlane’s performance as Ted is one of the best comedic performances that I have seen in a while. The great thing about the character was that he seemed so natural and you kind of forget that he is a CG teddy bear. His relationship with Wahlberg’s character is what really grounds the movie and keeps it movie along at a brisk pace. Wahlberg and Kunis also share great chemistry and are completely believable as a couple. All three of the leads play so well off each other that nothing in the movie feels awkward or out of place.

I have also noticed a trend with some comedies that they will throw in a random celebrity for comedic reasons that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.  In the Hangover, it was Mike Tyson, Dodgeball had Lance Armstrong, and Ted has Tom Skerritt. This is easily one of the weirdest cameos that I have seen in a while because it was so random. There are also two other great cameos in the movie that I do not want to spoil because they can only be described as epic.

This is most likely the best comedy that you will see in theaters this year. Seth MacFarlane, Mark Wahlberg, and Mila Kunis are each spectacular in this movie and hopefully they can make another movie together again in the future. This is also a great start for MacFarlane as a director and I am eagerly anticipating seeing what he will come up with in the future. See this movie and you will laugh out loud in the theater and will probably be quoting this movie for years to come.