Ted

Rated 4.0

In 1985, a friendless boy wishes that his Christmas teddy bear could come to life and be his friend, and his wish comes true. But by 2012, nothing has changed except their voices; the boy (now played by Mark Wahlberg) and the bear (voice by director and co-writer Seth MacFarlane) haven’t grown up; they just sit around smoking pot and talking trash, and the boy/man’s girlfriend (Mila Kunis) is getting tired of it. MacFarlane’s first feature (he’s the brains behind TV’s Family Guy) just misses being a real classic. The script (co-written by Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild) is raunchy and irreverent, riddled with pop-culture jokes and nonstop laughs; the visual effects are seamless; and there’s a good message about friendship and growing up. Come to think of it, it may turn out to be a classic after all.