Jay Snook says Seth’s latest has some clever bits but overall isn’t that funny.
A Million Ways to Die in the West has plenty of promise, but sadly just isn’t that good of a film. This film was directed by Seth MacFarlane, and was released on May 30, 2014. It is rated R, was distributed by Universal Pictures and has a run time of 116 minutes.
When I saw the trailers for this film I was very excited to see this movie. There were so many scenes that made me laugh in the trailers, and there were some clever bits in each of them. But sadly the film itself is a disappointment. I saw the funny parts in the trailers, so I didn’t laugh at them again. And the other parts just weren’t funny to me at all.
The film focuses on Albert Stark, a sheep farmer who at his core is a coward. He hates to fight and has no clue how to shoot a gun. He was dating this beautiful woman named Loiuse, but she dumps him shortly after the film begins because he isn’t manly enough. Stark always complains about how much the wild west sucks and how he wants to leave. But when Anna Leatherwood comes to town, his views change for a bit. At the County Fair Albert gets mad at Foy, played by Neil Patrick Harris, and challenges him to a gun fight.
He is given a week to prepare and in this time Anna teaches Albert how to shoot, and they become friends. In this time Albert and Anna fall for each other, but it is found out that she is married to Clinch Leatherwood, on of the toughest men and best gunslingers in the west. He finds out Albert kissed his wife, and he wants him dead. What is Albert going to do? Is he going to fight him, or is he just going to run away?
Seth MacFarlane plays Albert Stark, Charlize Theron plays Anna Leatherwood, Amanda Seyfried plays Louise, Liam Neeson plays Clinch Leatherwood, Giovanni Ribisi plays Edward, Neil Patrick Harris plays Foy, and Sarah Silverman plays Ruth.
So what is bad about this film? Well it was obvious to me that most of the time in this movie Seth MacFarlane is just trying too hard to be funny. There were many jokes in this movie that just weren’t funny. The film also spent too much time on just MacFarlane’s character, when it would have been great to see some more of the other characters in the film. I was also disappointed that too much of this film was given away in the trailers, i think if some of these jokes had been kept a secret, it would have been a much better film to me.
The film does do a good job of making fun of many things from the old west, and there are a few clever bits. There is a dance scene that is fun to watch and also was rather funny. The scene with Albert and the Native Americans was also pretty clever, and had a nice resolution to it. The ending was good, and gave some nice closure to the whole story. It was nice to see how Albert grew from the beginning of the film and how at the end he was not the same man.This film also did a great job of getting some good guest stars in it, and the scene with Christopher Lloyd was just brilliant.
So overall, I can’t say this was a great film. It isn’t pure garbage, but it was nowhere near as good at Ted. If you are a fan of Seth MacFarlane, you will probably like this film. But I have to say this isn’t a film for kids.
-modified photo www.moviepostersdirect.com
Schmutz, such a shame with all those book smarts and you still don’t know from funny….
I watched this movie twice, and still it makes me laugh just thinking about some parts, He knows from funny which is why he CAN make a living from comedy, better for the rest of us you should stick to your playing with the video games and keep your nasty comments to yourself !