A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
Certified: 15
Duration: 116 minutes
Directed: Seth McFarlane
Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, Christopher Hagen, Wes Studi, Matt Clark, Evan Jones, Rex Linn, Christopher Lloyd
KRS release
This sketch-type movie comes from the creator of the hit comedy Ted and the TV series Family Guy and American Dad (co-creator). The film is set in the Old West in 1882 where Albert (Seth McFarlane) is a sheep farmer going through a rough patch. His girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) has just broken up with him and started a relationship with the eccentric and flamboyant Foy (Neil Patrick Harris). Albert hates the West especially because there are so many things that can threaten your life.
On the other hand, his friend Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) is very happy in the West. His girlfriend Ruth (Sarah Silverman) is a prostitute but the two still have not had sex since they are saving themselves for the wedding night.
Meanwhile, Albert meets Anna (Charlize Theron), a sweet woman whom he befriends and falls in love with. What he does not know is that she is the wife of criminal outlaw Clinch (Lima Neeson) who is as vehement as his reputation makes him out to be. Albert and Anna get closer to each while Clinch plans a stagecoach robbery. Anna starts to train Albert in gunfighting as he has a pending gunfight. Clinch soon makes his appearance and Albert finds that there are ways to die in the West he was not yet aware of.
The plot of A Million Ways to Die in the West is merely an excuse for McFarlane to make all kinds of jokes and enticing funny and rude situations.
He is not trying to follow up Ted through a resurrection of the Western genre, but is paying homage – and at the same time trying to outdo in the gross factor – the Mel Brooks’ classic Western comedy Blazing Saddles.
Like all movies of this kind, the film works on how much of the jokes work; thankfully enough, most of them do. When one joke falls flat, it is soon replaced by another laugh-out-loud moment where you will either watch incredulously or simply burst out laughing.
McFarlane is not aiming high at all both as a director and as an actor. As an actor he seems to blend into the movie, letting the situations do the talking; while, as a director, he is always pushing to hit his audience below the belt with his gags and for most of the time he succeeds. He manages to be irreverent as much as possible and it’s this attitude that gives this feature its swagger. Theron provides a likeable and, most of all, classy screen presence that gives the film its identity.
The film has several stand-out moments, including one when Albert meets with Indians for what is a veritable hallucinatory hilarious experience to finally conclude the film with a finale that is satisfying and smile-inducing.
This is a movie for fans of comedy sketches and gross-out comedy. McFarlane knows his target audience and if you are one of them, then a Million Ways is a good way to die in the West.