A Million Ways To Die In The West

Yeah, yeah; it's getting lacklustre reviews, and I half understand why.

It's not a timeless piece of comedy, but it's got spunk, wonderful production values, inspired comedic acting (even the 'bit' roles), and it has well-turned moments of stunningly genuine romance. Of note: If other comedy films are "better", why did I find more good ol', down-home belly laughs in this one? I think I know why: Sure, MacFarlane can play it blue and scatological, but he also values that other timeless comedic tradition; that which is Truly Funny Because It Is True.

Special Mention for Sarah Silverman. I think she struggles to reach out and touch with her unique and beautiful style, and goes largely unappreciated. MacFarlane gave her a great vehicle, and she lived up to it with the kind of aplomb and vivacity that I've certainly come to expect from her. I sincerely hope moviegoers will recognize this and watch her career with heightened expectations.

One thing I thought a bit odd: The Onion reviewer's main critique was that MacFarlane was "recycling" gags. I was half-expecting to find a tiresome rehashing of a few gags. I started watching, and found it engaging and surprising.

Anyway, it sorta looks like the horse is out of the barn. The flick did sh1t at the box office, and it'll go to DVD and maybe recoup its outlays. Too bad! It deserves better.

After finding tremendous success with animated sitcoms Family Guy and American Dad, Seth MacFarlane ventured into the realm of live-action comedy with 2012's smash hit Ted, which featured Mark Wahlberg as a slacker whose best friend is a sex-and-drugs-obsessed teddy bear. While MacFarlane provided the voice and motion capture for the titular stuffed animal, he never actually appeared in the film, but takes center stage in his sophomore effort, A Million Ways to Die in the West.

Set in Arizona in 1882, the film stars MacFarlane as Albert Stark, a mild-mannered sheep farmer living a mundane existence in the rough and tumble town of Old Stump. Stark has just lost his girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried) to a wealthy local businessman (Neil Patrick Harris), and spends his days drinking away his sorrows with his best (and seemingly only) friend Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) and his prostitute fiancée, Ruth (Sarah Silverman).

Meanwhile, notorious outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson) has dispatched his wife to Old Stump to await his arrival while he and the rest of the gang pull off another stagecoach robbery. After a chance encounter during a bar fight, Anna (Charlize Theron) takes an immediate liking to Stark, and agrees to help him win back the heart of his lost love, but omitting her true identity could have grave consequences when Clinch discovers who she's spending her days with.

While the plot sounds like it could have come from any number of Western films, everything that occurs on screen is through the filter of MacFarlane's unique sense of humor. Simultaneously poking fun at genre tropes while also paying homage to the classics, A Million Ways to Die in the West offers plenty to laugh at, including a hilarious song and dance number about men's facial hair, and an absurd variety of comedic death sequences.

Unfortunately, these moments are overshadowed by the fact that most of the film's humor is derived from the sort of R-rated content that MacFarlane can't get away with on television. There are only so many jokes about semen, diarrhea, and homosexuality that an audience can absorb before these topics stops being funny, but the film continues well past that mark, with Silverman coming across as particularly grating. After years of the exact same schtick, haven't people grown tired of hearing her talk about her vagina?

MacFarlane has proved time and again that he can write intelligent, thought-provoking comedy, but much like his previous film, he seems far too willing to cast that aside in favor of dick jokes and lame attempts to be offensive and shocking, just for the sake of being offensive and shocking. A Million Ways to Die in the West isn't a bad film - indeed, I think it's a vast improvement over Ted - but it's still not the MacFarlane film that I had hoped for. He's better than this, and hopefully we'll see that in his next flick.

-- Brent Hankins, www.nerdrep.com

I'm a little surprised that so many reviews of A Million Ways follow the theme of: "pretty disappointed... funny but not hilarious... not as good as I was hoping..." etc.

This movie was literally exactly what I was expecting when I sat down in the theatre and the lights began to dim. That is to say, I've seen so much of Seth MacFarlane's work to know his sense of humour comfortably well.

OK, the movie is trite and the screenplay won't win awards, but it's bright, the scenery is amazing, the timing is reasonably fast-paced, and the quick-witted chemistry between Seth and Charlize plays out fairly well for the bulk of the film.

Also, there are plenty of jokes to enjoy and plenty of cameos to look out for. Some jokes are weird, vague, or just plain dirty. But really, after twelve seasons of Family Guy, what were you expecting, Shakespeare?

If you're looking for a dramatic, earth-shattering movie that will question existence and alter the way you view humanity, don't see this movie. But, I guess, if you bought tickets to a Seth MacFarlane movie without knowing what you're getting yourself into, it's kind of your own fault now, isn't it?

If, however, you're a fan of the offbeat and immature sense of humour that embodies Family Guy, this movie will most likely be a fun and easy-going way to pass two hours of your time.

Don't rely on the reviews you read here! I didn't read the reviews prior to watching the movie, i really enjoyed it, it was fun and light comedy kinda movie and after watching it i took a look on the reviews and i was really shocked to find most of them negative and giving low voting for the movie, which i found so odd! Really, its a good movie and i neither know Seth MacFarlane nor am i a fan of his nor have i seen any of his previous movies but the movie is great and he did his role in a perfect way Watch the movie and judge for your self, i liked it and time passed so fast while watching that i couldn't even feel it! This movie encourage me to watch Seth MacFarlane's Ted and i am expecting it to be as good as this one.

This movie has gotten sh*t from a lot of reviewers. Still I have no clue why. It wasn't that bad. Sure, there's the recycling gag thingy people complain about, there's potty humor and swears. But this is the thing; it's not intended to be a classy, heartfelt comedy. It's just a very funny and immature slapstick comedy. It's clear that Seth McFarlanes humor isn't classy, clever or original. However, he does manage to create a somewhat funny movie that can be enjoyed. Now, I like stupid, silly movies. I don't like cleverly written comedies. So, If you are a fan of Family Guy or Ted's humor, you will probably like this movie.

A lot of reviewers tend to review this movie as like it is trying to be an Oscar movie. It isn't. All the actors did a great job (even the small rolls), the jokes weren't all over the place & it was actually quite enjoyable. They're having fun, we're having fun. Nothing wrong with that.

I don't understand why people go into movies like these expecting them to be some kind of comical masterpiece when the trailer was clear enough about it just being another random & dumb slapstick comedy. People are stupid enough to go watch it knowing what type of movie this is and expecting it to be something it's not.

So bottom line: If you like stupid & silly comedies with racist jokes & stereotypes, go watch this one. If you are a typical fan of the humor in Family Guy, South Park etc you will enjoy. There's plenty of different kinds of jokes in here. None of them classy, but funny. Toilet humor, foul mouths, racist stereotypes, offensive parodies & a few references that will be totally unexpected. If you're a fan of cleverly written scripts & wants to watch a classy comedy film; well, this movie is a total waste of time for you. I watched this expecting it to be really dumb, but enjoyable and it surpassed my expectations. The plot is simple, the jokes aren't clever but funny, the actors are doing a more than well job. I couldn't ask for more. This one deserves at least a 7 star rating. I found this movie much funnier than TED, which also was pretty dumb.

I rarely listen to what reviewers say about a movie before watching it first. You should do the same and judge for yourself. I just don't think it deserves the hate.