Ted

Seth MacFarlane's first live-action project, Ted is pretty much in line with MacFarlane's work on Family Guy, albeit less envelope-pushing than expected from the creative team behind one of network TV's least inhibited shows. Despite this, MacFarlane's sense of humor still comes through, as potty humor and pop culture references of varying relevance abound. John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is a well-intentioned slacker (with a Boston accent thicker than David Ortiz's thighs) whose childhood wish for his teddy bear to come to life is magically fulfilled. Years later, John and Ted (Seth MacFarlane) are still buddies, but the former is involved with the sweet but ambitious Lori (Mila Kunis), who wants a family. Though Ted is essentially a one-joke film, it's uncanny how many talking-teddy-bear jokes MacFarlane delivers. The director has a knack for manufacturing situations just so he can wax hilarious, but this forces him to sacrifice focus for laughs. While Wahlberg and Kunis are fine in the leads, it's the supporting cast and cameos that really shine. Giovanni Ribisi absolutely steals the show as a creepy would-be bearnapper, and Matt Walsh and Patrick Warburton are great as distinctive, convincing weirdoes. Despite there never having been an R-rated talking bear film before, Ted is nothing new, but its sporadic hilarity and scene-stealing supporting cast make it a worthy watch.