A Million Ways To Die In The West (2014)

How the West was not Fun

Director: Seth MacFarlane
Running Time: 116 minutes
Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris, Amanda Seyfried, Sarah Silverman


Westerns seem to be a genre which will keep popping up, no matter what the popular genre. While the last big name Western was helmed by the Coen Brothers, this one is a comedy from the creator of Family Guy and Ted.

Seth MacFarlane plays Albert Stark, a sheep farmer who loses his girlfriend, Amanda Seyfried, after cowardly backing out of a gunfight. He then gets taught how to fire a gun from a new addition to the community, played by Charlize Theron, in an effort to win back his girlfriend. Little does he know, however, that his new friend is actually the wife of the meanest gunfighter in the West.

Charlize didn't react well to the new Spiderman film

For his first time playing the lead role in a film, Seth MacFarlane does little remarkable, amounting at a best of merely being there. Charlize Theron steals the show with a charming performance, while Liam Neeson is bland in the role of a one-note villain. Amanda Seyfried is unremarkable while playing a walking plot device, leaving you to question what the fuss is over, which is a little better than Giovanni Ribisi and Sarah Silverman, who act as little more than two parts of a joke that gets stretched for longer than necessary.

But we're missing the all important question, is this film funny? Well, that depends. Let me give you three examples of things that get passed off for humor: Neil Patrick Harris defecating into a hat, a flower being placed in the crack of Liam Neesons arse, a close-up of a sheep's erect penis before it urinates on Macfarlanes face. If none of those appeal to you, then the film is unlikely to be your cup of tea.

If you're looking for a western comedy packed with wit, look elsewhere. This ain't Blazing Saddles, not even Mildly Warm Saddles.