A Million Ways to Die in the West
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Year Released: 2014
Rating: 1.5
Blazing Saddles it isn't ... hell, it's barely Lust in the Dust. MacFarlane's dopey farmer gets ditched by a blonde vixen (Amanda Seyfried, purely bug-eyed candy) and becomes involved with a rough gunslinger (Charlize Theron) who is married (without him knowing) to a fierce outlaw (Liam Neeson). MacFarlane's goofy sense of comedy is very hit-or-miss in this weak 'satire' of the genre (hope you like sheep piss and fart jokes!) ... and while I enjoy a speech he delivers about how despicable and awful life was there (as opposed to romanticized versions of survival and triumph in the "Old West"), this is mostly a failed collection of ho-hum sight gags, throwaway movie references (Back to the Future, Django Unchained) and, of course, a musical interlude ("If You've Only Got a Mustache"). MacFarlane has had success on TV and film (I like his take on arrested development with Ted), but I cannot help but think he made a slip-up by casting himself in the lead role: he's far too prim and cocksure to be the outcast these shenanigans are centered around.
