Movie Review: Ted

Seth MacFarlane is a polarizing figure in comedy. I've always found Family Guy and American Dad to be extremely hit-or-miss. Thankfully he straightens out all the inconsistencies with his humor for his debut film Ted.

Ted is completely hilarious throughout. This is 100000x better than the best episode of Family Guy. MacFarlane has finally created a piece of work that is consistently funny and entertaining with absolutely no down time at all. He still uses his trademark blend of wide-appealing sexual and toilet humor with obscure pop culture references, it's just better than ever. I especially enjoy his pop culture references and I found myself to be the only one in the theater laughing at a lot of them. Personally, I don't think you can fully appreciate this film if you don't get at least half of the references. They elevate this film from being a great comedy to a landmark comedy. Besides the fact that almost everything that comes out of Ted's mouth is hilarious, the cast does a great job. MacFarlane surrounded himself with most of his cronies ( Mila Kunis, Patrick Warburton, Alex Borstein, Ralph German), but he also made some solid choices outside of his circle with Mark Wahlberg in the lead role (he never fails to impress in comedies) and Joel McHale as Milla Kunis's character's pervert boss. Perhaps the most impressive and surprising is the scene-stealing extended cameo from Sam Jones of Flash Gordon fame. I never expected to see Jones in another movie again and his appearance is absolutely priceless and provides some of the biggest laughs in the whole movie. The only thing that prevents this from being better than 21 Jump Street, this year's other landmark comedy, is the stupid subplot with Giovanni Ribsi, who plays a man obsessed with getting Ted for his son. It's completely unnecessary to have his character in the movie and the final third of the movie where his character is the most prominent is easily the worst part of the movie. Besides that tiny flaw, Ted is still an extremely enjoyable film. This is an elite comedy that holds up well on repeat viewings (I've already seen it twice) and it should be remembered for years to come.

4.5/5 Stars