[7]

Mark Wahlberg stars as a man whose childhood Christmas wish came true, giving him a walking, talking teddy bear buddy for life. The film is directed by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, and bares all the pop culture references, flashbacks, and sacrilege of his cartoon work. Ted certainly has its fill of good jokes — Patrick Stewart’s narration and spectacular references to Flash Gordon and Octopussy are among my favorites. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that Ted might have been better as a half-hour short instead of a feature. I’d like to have seen more irreverence and less adherence to rom-com formula during the third act.