As a boy, John wished his teddy bear to life, and the two became best buds. But now, John (Mark Wahlberg) is in his mid-30s, and his boorish plush-buddy Ted (voice of Seth MacFarland) is keeping him from fully maturing. Instead, the two get baked and watch shitty movies, tell fart jokes and generally behave like over-sized 13-year-olds.
This comedy is a directorial debut for MacFarland, who created TV's Family Guy, and also co-wrote the script. It's an R-rated romp that offers just enough sweetness and wit to edge over the line from the offensive, f-bomb-laden affair that makes you despair of humanity (i.e. the latest Adam Sandler) to a guilty pleasure that brightens your day for a couple of hours.
Highlights include a room-trashing fight between John and the teddy bear; an extended riff on the 1980 film dud Flash Gordon; and Wahlberg's breathless recitation of "white-trash girls' names." In the shrug column: a bizarre kidnapping subplot with Giovanni Ribisi; the tacked-on understanding-girlfriend role (here, fulfilled by Mila Kunis); and some gags that exist more for shock value than for cleverness. In sum: not great, but better than you might think.
