A Million Ways to Die in the West

I feel like I've been giving you guys some filler movies lately. Its mainly because I was waiting to see this movie and give a great review saying whether or not I liked it. Unfortunately, I wanted to go see it with my friends and our schedules didn't match up until we finally agreed we'd go see a matinee in the middle of the day on a Monday when the weather outside was absolutely gorgeous and it would be silly to go inside and watch a movie. But we did it!

Was it worth it?

A Million Ways to Die in the West is the story of a Sheep herder in the frontier of Arizona in 1882. The movie starts off with a voice over stating that the West is a tough place to live but sometimes there are just people who don't fit in.

Before I continue, the thing I liked about this movie from the get go was how reminiscent of Blazing Saddles it was. The opening credits had that orangish hue and certain font that only happens in cheesy Western flicks.

Well the story follows Albert Stark (played by Seth Macfarlene). In the first few minutes of the movie, he is broken up with by his girlfriend (played by Amanda Seyfried). This puts Albert in a depression because he is about the only person who recognizes that the West is a dark and depressing place that he hates and the only person who made it bearable broke up with him.

Meanwhile, Liam Neeson is an outlaw with a wife named Anna (played by Charlize Theron) He sends her off to the town Stark lives in while he goes off and does outlaw things. Anna meet Albert and almost immediately become friends. They start seeing more of each other and eventually Albert challenges his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend (played by Neil Patrick Harris) to a gun fight. The majority of the movie is Anna training Albert to shoot all while helping each other out with their personal problems.

Now if you've read any of my reviews about comedy, especially if you've read my review of Ted, the only thing I can say about humor is that its subjective. I could tell you I laughed really really hard at this movie (which I did) and then you could go to the movie and say... "Wow that was really stupid"

However, this movie just felt a little bit different than Ted in that while Ted seemed like it was Seth MacFarlene to a T, this movie seemed to be a little bit more of a fun comedy. Is it still raunchy? Yes. Is it still a lot of MacFarlene's humor? Yes. Will you think its stupid? Probably. I don't know I just felt something a little bit different with this film but I would have to watch it again to really tell if this movie stood apart or was just another episode of Family Guy.

If you can't tell, I liked this movie. I thought it was really funny. I thought the humor, while incredibly inappropriate was a lot of smart humor. And there's a couple jokes in there that you won't get unless you watch a lot of MacFarlene's stuff. But I have to give the man credit, he is making a name for himself and I would not be surprised if he comes out with more films that are just his style.

It kind of reminds me of Judd Apatow or Mel Brooks. If you weren't a fan of Knocked Up or Superbad, chances are you're not going to like Pineapple Express or Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

The movie is funny because while everyone knows the environment they live in, its almost as if they were dropped from the 21st century into the 19th Century. They're all very aware that the West sucks but at the same time, it feels as if they are from the 19th Century. Its a strange combination of mannerisms and ways of talking from the 21st century but phrasing jokes that would only make sense made by people in the 19th century and you do have to give MacFarlene credit for that, that is not easy to make a 21st Century audience feel at home in the 19th century but still make it so its not lazy.

The movie is very much centered around the fact that the West is a dangerous yet conservative and restricting time. Stark's best friend (played by Giovanni Ribisi) is dating a prostitute and is totally cool with the fact that she sleeps with "10 guys a day... on a slow day"

At the same time, they haven't had sex. Him and Ruth (played by Sarah Silverman) believe that, because they're Christians, they have to wait until they're married to have sex. But when a dangerous outlaw threatens to kill the entire town, suddenly they think "God will forgive them"

Its raunch, inappropriate humor that MacFarlene is best known for and I think he does a pretty great job executing it. Whether you laugh or not it totally up to you.

The individual performances are pretty good. MacFarlene is no actor, lets just be clear about it. He's just up there playing himself like he always does. However, he does himself well and surprisingly, it works for the movie. Charlize Theron is incredibly charming which is a good change of pace from the other things I've seen her in. Giovanni Ribisi does a good job, so does Sarah Silverman. Liam Neeson was a little bit of a strange choice for the part and I don't know if he did a fantastic job but I laughed mainly because it was Liam Neeson.

And Neil Patrick Harris... well he's Neil Patrick Harris. I don't think there was ever a moment when he was on screen that I wasn't smiling. I wish there had been more of him. I'm not saying he was the best part because I feel like they under utilized him and made him a very stereotypical mean guy int he film. But he's just too fun to watch.

And that's another theme. Its a film that people know is just suppose to be fun. If the actors are having fun, I am most likely going to have fun watching them.

And the movie had some heart to it. There's a little bit of a message about finding balance in relationships and being with somebody who is with you for being you. And MacFarlene actually pulls that moral off really well. Its simple, it works well for the characters and it creates for a lot of fun moments throughout.

Now I won't say this is real high brow humor. There is a scene where NPH shits into someone's hat. For a good minute or two.

Its still raunchy, its still got poop jokes. But they just have fun with it. Maybe I'll put more depth into it after I watch it again but for now, I'll definitely recommend this film and I'm excited to watch it again.

So have you seen A Million Ways to Die in the West? What did you think of it? Comment and discuss below.

I'll leave you with this. When Ted came out, MacFarlene did a bit with College Humor about other ideas he might have about inanimate objects. Here it is, Enjoy!