I loved the first two seasons of Family Guy. I told people about it when it was canceled and purchased the DVD. I thought it was brilliant, subversive and funny as hell. When it was resurrected, I was excited, but ended up lukewarm about the newer episodes. There are some funny bits, but overall it’s not quite as funny/exciting as the show was in its initial run. So, it was with some trepidation, that I approached the movie Ted. I saw some funny scenes in the trailer, but worried that the concept wouldn’t carry for a full movie. Well, yes and no. The movie is fairly consistently funny for the entire movie, but there are some places where it limps along on a weak kidnapping storyline that looks like it was shoehorned in to make the picture long enough. Let’s check out what happened to Ted.

John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is the world’s most hated 7 year old. Even the kids getting beat up don’t want him around. When he gets a giant teddy bear for Christmas, the bear (Ted) becomes his best friend. Then a magical wish turns Ted alive. Ted becomes the flavor of the month (including a hilarious clip of him interacting with Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show) until something else comes along. And then John grows up, well he gets older.

28 years later, John is in a happy relationship with Lori (Mila Kunis),.but Ted(Seth McFarlane) is still living with them. And John is not the most mature and responsible person around. He has a job in a rental car agency where he will get the manager job if he just doesn’t screw up. But John’s more excited about getting drunk and stoned with Ted. Lori is getting frustrated with John and wants Ted to move out in hopes that it will force John to actually grow up. Then we get Ted meeting a cashier(Jessica Barth) at the grocery store job, Lori having to deal with her sleazy boss(Joel McHale) and a father-son duo who wants to own Ted.

But the plot is not the point of the movie. The plot is just a framework to hang jokes on. The jokes you expect from Family Guy are there as well as more extreme jokes that the R Rating gives them the freedom to do. As I mentioned above, the kidnapping sub plot is very stupid, as is the chase scene near the end (and I don’t mean funny when I say stupid). The ending is predictably sappy and wraps everything up in a neat, happy bow.

So, will you like the movie. Yes. You will. It is really, really funny and rarely does a minute go bye without a funny line that will leave you laughing hysterically. It is Seth McFarlane letting his funny side run wild while everyone else tries to play it straight. The special effects are amazing and they do a great job showing a teddy bear running around and interacting with people. It truly is a great visual experience. Overall I enjoyed the movie, but felt that it would have been better if they trimmed it down by another 15-20 minutes. Recommended.