Directed, written by and starring Seth MacFarlane – creator
of Family Guy and Ted – A Million Ways to Die in the West is a comedy western concerning a
cowardly farmer named Albert (MacFarlane) whose girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried)
has left him. Desperate to win back her heart affections, he teams up with
mysterious newcomer Anna (Charlize Theron) to hone his gun-fighting skills,
find his bravery all whilst avoiding death by a menagerie of causes, including
merciless outlaw and gun-slinger Clinch (Liam Neeson).
In the background of this film is of course the original
comedy western Blazing Saddles, a
film that had laugh-a-minute jokes with characters and set pieces that were
memorable. This, sadly, has none of that. The great strength in the better
years of MacFarlane’s Family Guy, the
comedy worked because there were twenty minutes in which to get the best laughs
in, so a certain number of low-brow, crude humour was perfectly acceptable.
This film just feels like a Family Guy
episode that has been stretched far beyond a reasonable length at an ungodly
two hour-long running time.
There is only so much comedy one can extract from bowel
humour, and even then, it has to be carefully timed and set up properly. In
this film, fart jokes and anatomy jokes and liberal use of foul language are
just thrown in at a moment’s glance, and the worst thing is that there are
jokes that should be funny (such as a
flower being placed between the nether regions of an unconscious Liam Neeson) but don’t illicit a laugh because the setup hasn’t earned it. I can’t deny that
there were three laughs during the film, but two came in the first twenty
minutes and the third was during the end credits.
MacFarlane isn’t an enjoyable screen presence, and that is a
problem when he’s front and centre for most of the film. Supposedly playing the
only man who hates the West and a complete stranger to life there, he always
looks a quick wardrobe change away from attending a premier: his hair, teeth
and face are perfect while everyone else around him (save for the supporting
cast) is miserably dirty. Charlize Theron does what she can in a role that only
exist so MacFarlane can claim to his buddies that he kissed her, and Neil
Patrick Harris is saddled with cringe-worthy dialogue that just doesn’t befit
him. There are also a number of bizarre cameos, all of which appear to be there
just for the director to show off all the buddies he’s made in the business.
It has to be said that in the film’s favour, the Western
aesthetic is accurately replicated: a combination of period costumes, buildings,
stunning landscape shots plus a suitably epic musical score provide a fitting
backdrop – a handsomely shot one at that with a gorgeous palette bursting with
colour – but all this is wasted on a film which just doesn’t meet the standards
of it’s premise.
A Million Ways to Die
in the West is an exercise in extravagance: MacFarlane has gotten hold of a
great big dressing up box and a bunch of his mates then headed out to the West
to have a laugh for a couple of weeks with a script that in the end falls far
too short. It drew three laughs from me, and with three writers and a shared
back catalogue that includes good comedy material that just isn’t good enough.
1.5 stars
