"Ted"

Years ago, I was one of the many, many people who loved watching Seth Macfarlane's "Family Guy." When it was cancelled, I mourned. I watched on Adult Swim, bought the DVDs, and rejoiced when it came back. Now, like most of my friends, it's gotten old. What was once unique and inspired, has become repetitious and predictable. Still, when I saw the trailer for "Ted," I was hopeful. After all, when "Family Guy" is funny, it's very funny. While "Ted" may not match the best of "Family Guy," it does come close to some of the better moments.

In this tale, a young boy's wish brings his teddy bear to life. While this is a heartwarming tale at first, it soon takes a very mature turn, when the boy becomes a man (John, played by Marky Mark Wahlberg), and Ted becomes a foul mouthed, pot smoking, depraved party animal. Soon, Ted is coming between John and his girlfriend, Mila Kunis. So, from that point on, you can figure the plot out for yourself, really. Macfarlane is funny, but he's also in love with tropes, and stock story lines. It's a fact he seems to be aware of, and further use for comedy. With no major plot twists to worry about, the film simply becomes a vehicle to set up jokes about a teddy bear who like to party with whores. For me, that was enough. The jokes were over the top, but most of them worked.

For others, however, it may not be. The films jokes, and humor are targeted to men in my age group. Women might not like the crude, possibly sexist humor (Every woman is just a stereotype, or simply exists just to be pretty.) If you're too old, or too young, you may not get a good deal of the jokes. And if you're looking for some form of higher film... well... I mean, come on. The poster is a potty joke.

This isn't one to rush out and see. In fact, I dont think you would really miss much by waiting it to come out on disk, or even cable. But if you like Macfarlane's brand of humor, and you need a good laugh, then you might want to give"Ted" a try.