Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy who saw his 2012 big screen directorial debut Ted become the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time, follows up his talking teddy bear movie with the comedy western A Million Ways To Die In The West.
Is it possible to laugh often during a film all the while realizing you aren’t actually enjoying it as a whole? Unfortunately yes it is. I wanted Seth MacFarlane’s raunchy Old West venture to be an out of the ballpark home run, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Admittedly I am a fan of MacFarlane’s irreverent, typically un-PC and often extremely unabashed crude humor (for the most part, you either love Family Guy or you hate it) and there is no shortage of any of that. But as a fan the film’s shortcomings are all that much more disappointing.
While he provided the voice of the title CGI bear in Ted, MacFarlane completely crosses to the other side of the lens this time out. The writer/director stars as Albert Stark, a cowardly and inept sheep herder whose girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) leaves him after he talks his way out of a gun fight. A beautiful gunslinger Anna (Charlize Theron) arrives in town and helps makes a braver man out of him, which is extremely necessary since Albert ends up trading one likely fatal pistol duel for another. He foolishly challenges Louise’s new beau, the affluent Foy (Neil Patrick Harris) to a shootout in a week’s time. Needless to say, subtle sparks start to fly between Albert and Anna as she trains him in the ways of gun play.
Unbeknownst to all, Anna also happens to be the rather reluctant wife of the most feared outlaw in the region, Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson). Clinch eventually makes his way to Old Stub and is out for blood upon learning about Anna’s budding relationship with Albert.
The film is mainly focused on Albert and Anna as she prepares him for his duel with Foy. Along the way the title of the film comes into play. Turns out it’s pretty hard to stay alive in the Wild West. “Everything that isn’t you wants to kill you,” Albert informs us. Back in those days folks be hard pressed to escape ridiculous deaths from wild animals, flash photography accidents, massive ice blocks, and even lazy medical care. People always die at the County Fair as a matter of fact. As the fatality count increases, we are treated numerous sight gags, and some go over better than others.
Despite the 1882 Arizona setting, the cast all speak using modern vernacular, which certainly lends to the film’s off beat feel and further attempt to ride alongside the trailblazing comedy Western classic Blazing Saddles. Overall the jokes are hit or mostly miss and keep to the sophomoric standard you expect from MacFarlane and his Family Guy writing cohorts Wellsley Wild and Alec Sulkin. They allow their cast to curse a lot more, but have left a lot of the cleverness behind.
Though at nearly two hours, poor pacing is one of the film’s worst enemies and makes it seem like it’s the overindulgent unrefined first draft actually up there on the big screen. A tight 90 minutes would have served the film much better in getting a bigger bang for your buck. Several long stretches of cutesy character driving dialogue actually just bog down the overall funny. You definitely feel it overstays its welcome late in the third act by the time Albert bonds with a tribe of Native American Indians via a psychedelic trip.
MacFarlane does well enough as the nice guy hopelessly determined to win back the unworthy Louise, but overall he bites off more than he can chew as the male lead. With his infectious big smile, he is effective as Albert, but he’s also dropping F bombs left and right and serves as the cheerleader for all the gross goings on, which lends to an uneven balance for the character. Theron is charming as Anna, but mostly plays it straight next to Albert’s lovable wise ass. Neil Patrick Harris is allowed to have the most fun hamming it up as the pompous mustache king of Old Stump and Albert’s main antagonist. The supporting cast offer some worthy moments, particularly when it comes to the relationship between love struck Christians Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) and his prostitute girlfriend Ruth (Sarah Silverman), who vow to not consummate their relationship until marriage.
A rousing barn dance is actually kept to a surprising minimum by MacFarlane musical number standards, and actually turns out to be one of the film’s highlights. An obligatory, but ultra violent, bar fight makes you realize how tame most westerns treat the standard fisticuffs and chair breaking saloon brawl. There are enough gross out moments and quirky characters to round out the story, but the mishmash of it all doesn’t add up the way you think it should.
A Million Ways To Die In The West is an unfortunate and surprising misfire, with many of its best bits already out there in the trailers. Even one of the film’s golden cameos is revealed in a commercial for no good reason except to take necessary steam out of the picture. Despite a solid supporting cast and some gorgeous cinematography, the uneven script ultimately falls short in delivering the expected worthy laughs to keep the film riding along at a steady pace and keep it on par with the humor we expect from, as the poster proudly proclaims, “the guy who brought you Ted.”
A Million Ways To Die In The West opens in theaters on May 30th.
REVIEW RATING: ★½ ★★★★
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, Liam Neeson, Sarah Silverman
Screenwriters: Alec Sulkin, Seth MacFarlane, Wellesley Wild
Studio: Universal Pictures
Rated: R
Running Time: 116 minutes
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