Friday Film Review- Ted

Faithful readers know that films that are crass for the sake of being crass never get good reviews from me. That said, Ted is actually quite a funny trip through pop culture references and the trials of adulthood. John (Mark Wahlberg) is a 35 year old rental car company employee who smokes too much weed and is best friends with Ted, a teddy bear he wished to life when he was only 8 years old.  Ted is the best friend who gives bad advice and is generally the bane of any girlfriend's existence, certainly that of Lori (Mila Kunis), John's girlfriend. There's nothing particularly fresh about the plot, John is forced to make a choice between  Lori and Ted, but eventually gets to keep both anyway. For the most part Ted is spot on with its references, jokes and over-the-top style. Filled with racism, sexism and homophobia, the film is what you expect from director Seth McFarlane who also voices Ted. In the funniest scene of the film, Ted and John party too hard with Flash Gordon, get stoned, sing karaoke, get into a ridiculous fight and stab someone. Yet, despite the fact that there were some genuinely funny moments, a great narration by Patrick Stewart, and witty cameos from everyone from Norah Jones to Ryan Reynolds, at times Ted just tries to hard to push boundaries. I'm all for pushing boundaries, but only when it meets some end and several scenes, like Ted having sex with a cashier, had no redeeming qualities. Furthermore, as Ted goes on it only becomes shakier and more disjointed with an abusive and creepy father (Giovanni Ribisi) kidnapping Ted, a car chase, and of course, a final showdown. Everything ends happily, nonetheless, the last act feels like it was spliced in from a different and more poorly written film. Overall, Ted is not a great film but it does have some funny and spot-on moments, as such it's a passable summer watch, especially if you're a fan of pop-culture references and gross out comedy.