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A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
Daniel's Review
Seth MacFarlane’s new movie, you know the guy who made ‘Family Guy’ and ‘Ted’, returns both directing, writing and acting as the main character of the movie named Albert, which is new to me, so does MacFarlane have the acting chops?
Yeah, as he did a decent job and at times, could be really funny.
Charlize Theron was the best out of the film’s main characters, my only complaint, there wasn’t much development to her character, which was slightly disappointing, but Theron did a good job with what she got from the script of the film.
Sadly, that’s where the film suffers is the writing. The narrative of the story is weak, and is very messy at times and also very disjointed. But this is a comedy film, and got very little comedy, which was surprising, given this is a Seth MacFarlane movie, since he is really funny with ‘Ted’ and even the 'Oscars' from last year.
But it’s not all negative, the film does have its moments. The film’s stand outs are easily Giovanni Ribisi’s character, Edward, and Sarah Silverman’s character, Ruth. Both were funny in every scene they were in together, and interestingly, were the film’s best characters in terms of comedy and characterisation. I sort of wished they were in the film a lot more though, they were hysterical.
The film has some cool cameos, especially one I really loved from one of my favourite films ever.
The score is really good, especially the opening of the film and one of the horse chases were really enjoyable and refreshing, just from the music itself in those scenes.
Overall, the jokes are very few, but there are some real laugh out loud moments, just wished they were more consistent with laughs as for the main majority of this film, I felt kind of bored, to be honest. But the film does have some shining moments like the score and some of the characters in this film.
If you are a fan of both ‘Family Guy’ or ‘Ted’, still give it a watch, as you might be entertained more than I did as the audience seem to have had an enjoyable time, but in my opinion, ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ was just disappointing, which I feel bad in saying.
Score: 3.2/10
Published: June 12th, 2014
Details
Review
Release Date: May 29th, 2014
Studio: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 116 mins
Rated: MA15+
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Nic's Review
'A Million Ways to Die in The West' has such an intriguing (and long) title. It sounds funny. Whether you like Westerns or not, it's always fun to have a genre spoof.
Unfortunately, however, 'Million Ways' is far from funny enough to warrant its existence. I admit that I have a nostalgia for Westerns; I never knew them that well as a child, of course, but they give me a sense of awe and craftsmanship that is characteristic of the pre-blockbuster Hollywood era. Also, they are essentially historical epics set against the backdrop of the American Frontier.
Who doesn't love Cowboys and Indians?
Anyway, I digress, for no matter how much this film had going for it, 'Million Ways' disappoints on many levels. It had the premise. It had the promise. But in the end, Seth MacFarlane didn't have the jokes. He had some, to be sure, but most were already in the trailers. And there were just too many flat jokes in the film, so over the top with their unfunniness that the awkwardness at not laughing at them becomes painful. Macfarlane does finely as an actor in his debut, in fact his character is arguably the best part, but again it counts for nothing without the jokes.
The same goes for the action and drama. When the film takes itself as a serious western, even ironically, it offers us a glimpse at an excellent Seth Macfarlane Western. But when it nearly breaks the fourth wall on several occasions and no one laughs, we get a glimpse... scratch that, we get a display of a failed Seth Macfarlane Comedy. This film wants to be the former in the guise of the latter, but as a result doesn't do the latter well enough. I firmly believe that, despite his reputation in comedy, Seth Macfarlane would be a decent director of serious Drama, or Thriller, or Action, or whatever. Just not any of those in the same film as Comedy.
Perhaps he deserves a second chance at spoofing and I am being too harsh. But the penis jokes became cringeworthy by the end of the film, when all we wanted to see was a gunfight, and I have to blame someone.
Nice try Macfarlane, but better luck next time.
Score: 4.7/10