A Million Ways To Die In The West

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.

I seem to be in the minority here and probably a different age group, the upper one. Raised on westerns, my favourite source of drama in films, I have avoided this movie because of poor reviews and poor box office. I watched it last night, mainly to see Charlize Theron and was amazed how much I loved it. It opened with majestic scenes of what I took to be Monument Valley, used to such great success by John Ford in his classic westerns with John Wayne. My thoughts went almost immediately to Blazzing Saddles for comparisons, although it is much cruder but I'm used to that now in modern entertainment. Strangely I don't usually like vulgarity in humour but for some reason I overlooked it in this movie. That may be due to the likeable performances from Seth MacFarlane and Theron. Amongst all the sillyness is a completely straight performance by Liam Neeson playing his best violent persona which is another reason why I found it worked. I never realised MacFarlane was the same actor who made Ted, which I really didn't like and for me the crude humour in that was everything I don't like about modern entertainment. Why I forgave him that for this picture is a riddle. Still, I really didn't want this film to finish. I loved the relationship build-up between MacFarlane and Theron and the supporting actors, the violent gags and the cinematography were terrific. Perhaps you have to be an old time western fan to enjoy and sadly it's a bygone genre to modern audiences judging by other comments here. 9 stars from me for the most entertaining movie of the year for me so far.

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.

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

Since I watched Ted about a year or so ago, I became aware of this Seth McFarlane more and more especially when he hosted the Oscars last year. I found him often clever and funny even with his take on many vulgarities which he continues with this movie. Since he co-wrote, directed, and is the leading player here, he should get credit for not only continuing to provide funny scenes and lines for his players but also some for himself especially when he rants on certain facts or just makes stuff up. There was also a cameo from another movie from the '80s that I was very pleasantly surprised by! So on that note, I recommend A Million Ways to Die in the West.