Sunday 8 June 2014

A Million Ways to Die in the West - Review

Director: Seth MacFarlane Writers: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild Studios: Universal Pictures, Media Rights Capital, Fuzzy Door Productions, Bluegrass Films Cast: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman, Liam Neeson Release Date (UK): May 30, 2014 Certificate: 15 Runtime: 116 min

“A Million Ways to Die in the West” comes from Seth MacFarlane, the creator of “Family Guy,” an animated show which runs for 22 minutes. Which is funny, because in “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” there’s maybe about 22 minutes of good material. The rest of the film, i.e. the other hour and a half, is filler, and slow-moving filler at that. I find that weird: “Family Guy” is known for being hectic and wild and crazy, yet “A Million Ways to Die in the West” moves along at a snail’s pace. Maybe MacFarlane needs to hire a new editor. Then again, maybe the film feels so slow because those 22 minutes are being stretched far beyond their limitations.

There’s a solid enough gag at the centre of the film: we’re in the wild west, circa 1882, yet everyone talks like it’s the modern day. And with it being the wild west, there are a million things out to kill you, hence the title. MacFarlane plays Albert Stark, a cowardly sheep farmer who, after ducking out of a gun fight, loses his beloved girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried). Charlize Theron plays Anna, the wife of an outlaw, who befriends Albert and helps him get his girlfriend back by teaching him how to shoot like a man. Also in the mix is a well-cast Liam Neeson as Anna’s infamous outlaw husband and Neil Patrick Harris as the mustachioed man who steals Louise away. MacFarlane is smart enough to give Harris his own musical number, which is a fun, catchy highlight (if MacFarlane knows what's good for him he’ll make his next movie a musical and cast Harris in the lead role).

MacFarlane’s last movie was “Ted,” in which he was the voice of a talking, strictly anti-PC teddy bear. With that 2012 hit, “A Million Ways to Die in the West” shares a spectacularly crude sense of humour: there’s enough F-bombs, raunchy sex gags and sheep cocks on display to give the PTC a month’s worth of heart attacks. I don’t mind the crudeness: I did, after all, laugh quite a lot during “Ted.” But being crude is one thing; being crude and not funny is another. I think I chuckled maybe five times during “A Million Ways to Die in the West” and let out one genuine laugh. For a comedy which runs for almost two full hours, “A Million Ways to Die in the West” simply isn’t funny enough; for a film which dares comparison with “Blazing Saddles,” it dies a million deaths.

Rating: 4/10

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