A Million Ways To Die In The West

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.

It's 1882 in Arizona, the heartland of the American West. We follow the life of Albert Stark (Seth MacFarlane), an incompetent and inept sheep farmer whose girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) breaks up with him because of his glaring lack of courage and skill. Depressed and discouraged by how his life is full of disappointment and how every instance of love is then destroyed and robbed from him, Albert finds comfort in Anna (Charlize Theron), a newcomer to his small village. Albert is attracted to her, initially, by her beauty, but realizes she's the courage and confidence he has always hungered for. However, when the infamous West outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson) arrives in town, Albert realizes that he has just intruded on Clinch and Anna's husband-and-wife relationship, and Clinch is hungry for retribution. On the other hand, Albert also has to find the gunslinging skill in order to battle Louise's new boyfriend - the cocky and wealthy Foy (Neil Patrick Harris) - in a shootout in front of the entire town.

A Million Ways to Die in the West may not have been the best followup to Seth MacFarlane's monster comedy hit Ted just two years ago. Despite critical/audience reception on the film taking a turn for the worse in recent time, I found that film absolutely hilarious in its brazenness and its levels of romance and heart to be on-point for a raunchy comedy of the modern day. A Million Ways to Die in the West feels like it came about when MacFarlane was sitting around a table with a few of his buddies for dinner and the gang of friends got to talking about how life in the American West must have been hell for the simple townspeople who weren't notorious gunslingers or dangerous outlaws. What they then proceeded to concoct was a barrage of events and downsides to living in one of America's most free and lawless times and what was formed was a satire on the American West life.

To be fair, the film has certain merit to it. When the film isn't getting caught up in excessive use of shock humor and gross-out gags and relying on criticizing conventions of the West, it becomes a very funny and often hilarious endeavor. When it, however, resorts to using diarrhea and urinating sheep as it core jokes is when the film becomes a tad insufferable. This is particularly frustrating because we know MacFarlane is capable of so much more than what is presented here.

However, MacFarlane excels when the screenplay calls for delivery of lengthy monologues explaining why the West is such a hellhole. Consider the scene that takes place in a local saloon, where Albert is talking with his close friends about how doctors use unorthodox practices, "modern" medicine kills and harms more than it heals, there is a new "disease of the week" every week, and everything that isn't you in the West wants you dead. This kind of humor is much more low-key and plays different instruments than the abundance of shock humor MacFarlane employs later on in the film. Was he fearful that the humor would be far too low-key and subtle for many to pick up on? Then there's the fact that the film is an unforgivably overlong one-hundred and fifty-six minutes when I initially struggled to see how this film could sustain ninety minutes. Being that it's MacFarlane, scenes drag out, subplots are introduced, musical numbers are introduced, and several little cameos such as the hilarious Bill Maher and Jamie Foxx turn up almost constantly. I am a fan of MacFarlane's rapid-fire style of filmmaking, and I admire this effort for the fact that it has to dodge contemporary pop culture references being that the story takes place in 1882. MacFarlane seemingly used those pop culture references as a cop out for story lines and plot points in his television show Family Guy, especially in the most recent episodes.

It's incredible the cast of characters MacFarlane managed to get to partake in this affair. Theron and Neeson partake in some rare comedic performances to a solid effect, and Sarah Silverman as the town hooker works because of her comedic openness. It's hard to believe the weakest performer at hand is MacFarlane himself, who finds ways to overact in many places and can't convey emotions due to his single-facial expression.

With A Million Ways to Die in the West MacFarlane creates a mildly-amusing writing exercising that turns into a sometimes funny but often middling farce on western life. The musical numbers are entertaining enough, the performances and the cameos are something to anticipate, and the aftertaste it leaves is not bitter nor offensive; just somewhat underwhelming.

Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman, Neil Patrick Harris, and Amanda Seyfried. Directed by: Seth MacFarlane.

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.

First of all, I like MacFarlane's work and I am big fan of 'Family Guy', 'American Dad' and his previous live-action feature 'Ted', but 'A Million Ways to Die in the West' was set for being panned from the moment the trailer was unveiled. This is a real shame because the film does have some good aspects to it, at times it is evident that MacFarlane was trying to pay homage to some of the original westerns but at other times he was trying too hard to modernise a genre that didn't need it, and as a result the film was littered with grotesque sex jokes and toilet humour. Now don't get me wrong, I did chuckle a few times, but very few times at that. Liam Neeson's casting as the villain was indeed a good choice and he pulls off the role very well, especially alongside the stunning Charlize Theron in all her glory. I did enjoy the subtle references to 'Back to the Future' and 'Django Unchained', but despite these certain affluences, the film just generally lacked elsewhere and was unfortunately heavily flawed; a disappointing project from MacFarlane.