ted is effing outrageous. Let’s start with that. It’s the story of a lonely kid who gets a teddy bear as a christmas gift then wishes for it to come to life to be his best friend. What are the chances a shooting star is passing just as he makes the wish? TED comes to life at that moment and the rest is the movie…

Story: Seth MacFarlane did a pretty good job convincing us this is real. He built in all the details… 20 years of ted the talking bear being a celebrity, then falling from grace, then bumming around on his best friend’s sofa and wrapping it all up for a happy ending. A little trite, but that’s not the good part; It’s the bathroom humor – A pot head bear with a potty mouth that acts like a human. While not so out of character for MacFarlane, it is a clever twist on his animated characters, i.e Family Guy…

Performances: Clearly, because this story is set in Boston, Mark Wahlberg is perfectly cast. But, Seth MacFarlane – who’s from Rhode Island – is the voice of ted and he nails the accent and the attitude. Some of the dialogue is so raunchy, it really reminds you that MacFarlane’s imagination is quite vivid and hilariously filthy. Very Judd Apatow-esque.

Visual: The special effects to make ted life-like are great. Short of being a teddy bear, his mannerisms, his gestures – even the way his mouth moves is all perfect technology. It’s just fascinating to watch this cute teddy bear swearing, smoking and having sex. And yes, MacFarlane manages to do all of that and then some…

Rating: You have to like this kind of humor – I do – So ted gets a B+ from me. I love the idea… I love the individual performances and the relationship between ted and his best friend, but, again, thought the story was a slight trite. This would be a good get on video…

Luckily, the next ted is already in the planning; Hopefully, MacFarlane can dig deep and come up with something really, really clever. Then again, I think Seth MacFarlane is a serial killer in a Banker’s body, so, maybe we don’t want him to go too deep. Either way, I can’t wait to see the next ted…