Mild-mannered sheep farmer Albert Stark (Seth MacFarlane) feels certain that the Western frontier is trying to kill him, then he loses his girlfriend, Louise (Amanda Seyfried), to the town's most successful businessman. However, a beautiful, pistol-packing woman named Anna (Charlize Theron) rides into town and helps Albert find his inner courage. Then Stark must put his newfound bravery to the test when Anna's outlaw husband arrives with plans to plant him in an unmarked grave.
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Cast: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried,
Giovanni Ribisi, Liam Neeson
Release Date: May
30, 2014
Genres: Comedy Western, Outlaw (Gunfighter) Film,
Comedy, Western
Review:
After the surprising success of Ted, my expectation of Seth
MacFarlane next live action film were fairly high. Sadly, A Million
Ways to Die in the West doesn’t live up to
expectations. It plays out like an
extended “Road to…” episode of Family Guy with very little in the way of
innovation, satire or even laughs. It
will bring a grin to your face from time to time but MacFarlane seems to forget
he’s making a comedy and seems more interested in making a clichéd
western. Outside of the occasional
MacFarlane riffs on how horrible the old west was, there isn’t a ton to the
plot. As a result the story as a whole
lacks forward momentum with noticeable dead spots spread across the bloated run
time, most obvious during the climax of the forced storyline with MacFarlane
and Theron. A Million Ways to Die in the
West is one of those films that has a few false endings and then it drags on
for another 20 minutes longer than it should, essentially wasting Liam Neeson’s screen time. A few laughs here and there will never
replace Blazing Saddles.
C-
Ugh!
ReplyDeleteI am not quite sure what to make of Seth MacFarlane. The trailer looked amusing but it felt like the tone would grate on me very quickly.
Liam Neeson is the draw for me though so if he hasn't got much to do etc I doubt it will be worth the effort.
Count yourself lucky - I am skipping this to see Maleficent!
I was really looking forward to it because I do like MacFarlane but this was a bloated overlong mess.
Deleteyeah, and i really wanted to like this. i actually hated Ted but I am fascinated by westerns so i wanted to see what he'd do with this. aside from a few great moments, it is quite a dud.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean, I really wanted to like it but it was just too long and never consistent.
DeleteMacFarlane obviously isn't as talented as he thinks he is, and he will never be able to create a second Blazing Saddles or City Slickers.
ReplyDeleteYeah I really expected some close to Blazing Saddles but it just isn't close.
Delete