By Darlene Donloe
The West isn’t a
safe place. It would seem there are a million ways to die out there.
From the guy
that brought you Ted comes A Million Ways To Die In The West, a raunchy,
naughty comedy that is a send up about rural life in the west circa Arizona
1882.
The film, now
open nationwide, is produced, directed, co-written (Alec Sulkin and Wellesley
Wild) and stars Seth MacFarlane, who is no stranger to writing on the edge.
The western
spoof, a distant cousin to Blazing
Saddles, is edgy, gross, crass, dirty, eye-opening, nasty, juvenile, but is
also smart and really funny.
Seth MacFarlane,
who hosted the 2013 Oscars®, plays Albert Stark, a hapless, cowering sheep farmer
in the Old West who loses his girl (Amanda
Seyfried) when he ducks out of a fight, only to be taught how to shoot by
the wife (Charlize
Theron) of an infamous gunfighter (Liam Neeson).
Stark hates the
West. He hates everything about the West.
“We live in a terrible place and time,”
says Stark. “Everything that’s not you wants to kill you.”
In the film,
Stark tries to talk his way out of every situation and talk his way into every
situation. Although MacFarlane is
no actor, he is surrounded by some heavyweights including Theron, Neeson,
Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi and Neil Patrick Harris, who all help to buoy the
film.
Theron, who
looks out of place in the film, surprisingly has some comedic chops, Neeson
plays a great bad guy and Harris is high-larious as a vain bad boy who dons a
curling handlebar mustache.
Giovanni
Ribisi plays, Edward, Stark’s best friend, who is a prim, virginal shoe
repairman whose girlfriend, Ruth (Sarah Silverman), is a prostitute who
services up to 15 clients a day. Ruth rather nonchalantly recaps her day’s work
to Edward – complete with blow-by-blow descriptions (pun intended). Ironically, Ruth insists that she and
Edward not consummate their relationship until marriage because they are good
Christians. (**blank stare**)
The script is
choppy, but the film doesn’t try to fool anyone. It is what it is. There is
even a section in the film when MacFarlane walks out of frame and then back
into frame to explain a joke that could have gone over the head of some
viewers.
There are some
choice cameos in the film – with the very last one answering a question this
reviewer had throughout the film. Unfortunately, I can’t reveal the question
without a spoiler alert. Lets just
say there is a huge omission in the film.
A Million Ways to Die in the West (Universal) is rated R (Violence/Strong Sexual Content/Profanity/Drug Content; Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian for
scatological humor). Running time:
1 hour 54 minutes.
The movie
is directed by Seth MacFarlane; written by MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and
Wellesley Wild. It stars Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried,
Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman and Liam Neeson.
On the DONLOE
SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O (OK) and E
(excellent), A Million Ways To Die In The
West gets an O (OK).
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