Movie Review: A Million Ways to Die in the West

Ever wondered what Seth MacFarlane's absurd style of comedy would be like in the Old West? A Million Ways to Die in the West delivers the long-awaited answer to that question and the answer is quite well. MacFarlane makes his live-action acting debut as Albert, a cowardly sheep farmer who is the laughing stock of his small frontier town in 1880's Arizona. Albert is forced to change his ways when he falls for the mysterious new girl in town (Charlize Theron); who happens to be the husband of Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Nesson), the most feared outlaw in the territory. In order for Albert to stay alive, he needs to defeat Leatherwood in a gunfight and prove to everyone- including himself- that he is more than just a lowly sheep farmer. A Million Ways to Die in the West packs nearly two hours of MacFarlane's hijinks into this classic American backdrop and a majority of the nearly endless gags work. All of the random cameos, sex jokes and toilet humor you've come to expect from MacFarlane are present with some sharp satire of the culture of the American frontier for good measure. Despite the immaturity of much of MacFarlane's humor, he pays a surprising amount of detail to capturing the atmosphere of classic westerns. MacFarlane really captures the spirit of old westerns with the classic frontier setting and grainy cinematography that beckons back to the genre's heyday of the 1940's-60's. MacFarlane does a serviceable job in his on-camera acting debut as the story's hero while on-camera love interest Theron kind of gets lost in the shuffle in a supporting cast full of comedy heavyweights including Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Silverman- who gets the biggest laughs of the entire film as a Christian prostitute who is waiting until marriage to have sex with her long-time boyfriend (Giovani Ribsi, who is also great). The proceedings of A Million Ways to Die in the West get a little bogged down with the romance, but the constant stream of humor is able to patch over a majority of the flaws with the central love story. It may lack the firepower and sheer number of belly laughs that Ted had, but A Million Ways to Die in the West is still a silly yet consistently amusing romp that serves as a worthy second entry in MacFarlane's budding film career.

4/5 Stars