Ted

A movie about a 35 year old who can't let go of his best friend that's a teddy bear? That would never happen because that's too silly. What guy would realistically do this? Well, I have a friend who isnt young and he loves bears! He wants to start a business involving bears and even refers to himself as one from time to time. But once I make him aware of the human subculture of hairy male bears that I just recently discovered, I dont think he will do that anymore. Let's just say that these bears were probably sitting next to your girlfriend or sister in the movie Magic Mike this weekend. Anyway the point is my buddy also thought it would be a good idea to dress up as a bear for Halloween because he thought it would remind girls of their teddy bear and as a consequence would think he was cute as well. Well, he just ended up looking really creepy and passing out next to the drunk and handsy Gumby at the end of the night. So honestly  this movie just reminded me of one of my best friends.

In this recent trend of cartoon creators moving to live action, Seth Macfarlane tries to throw his hat into the ring.And if you saw his Family Guy movie that came out a few years back you kind of had to know what to expect. It would be full of his typical crass jokes and would run just a little too long. Well this movie is no different. It starts off with a young John(Marky Mark) being the unpopular kid in the neighborhood, leaving him with only his new Christmas present Ted as his only friend. He makes a wish that Ted would actually come to life and the next morning his wish is granted. They instantly make a pact that they will be best friends forever. Well now John is 35 and not much has changed except that John now has a girlfriend Lori(Mila Kunis) and the fact that he spends all day getting blazed with Ted and is stuck in a dead end job is putting a strain on their relationship. To his credit, the likable John tries his best to change but the fact that he's not that bright, has never really grown up, and Ted is now a womanizing party bear who has a major influence over his life, it all keeps him from moving forward in life and with his relationship. That's essentially the story along with an unnecessary subplot of a creepy Giovanni Ribisi as a stalker who wants to buy Ted for his own weird son who has no friends.

So the movie is unbelievably funny at times and the story isnt all that bad. From the first scene of Ted and John smoking a bowl on their couch and talking about Boston women having orgasms you realize that Macfarlane is happy to be free from the constraints of network television. This movie still has all of the random offensive racial, religious, and sexual orientation references that the cartoon has but it also has over the top foul language to accompany it. Sometimes it goes a little too far, like the scene where Ted meets Tammy Lynn for the first time and seduces her but again that's just Macfarlane seeing what he can get away with. The only problems I have with this movie is that Marky Mark is in it and that it's almost 120 minutes long. No comedy, especially one with a talking bear, should be longer than 90 minutes but thankfully whenever you start to get bored they put Kunis back on screen or Ted throws a raging party with the real Flash Gordon. Oh yeah, if you're old like me, you will love all of the 80's references. The animation is great so the scenes with the bear never look cheesy and honestly everything he says is comic gold. He's like the perfect mix of Peter and Brian from Family Guy. Overall I rate this movie  as pretty FRESH and would definitely suggest checking it out. Or maybe my mom was right, "you're seeing what??? You really will see anything huh?" Yes mom, yes I will. And please keep reading my blog.