Director: Seth McFarlane
Talent: Seth McFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried
Release Date: 6th June 2014
A Million Ways To Die In The West is more a work of cynicism than one of comedy. There is, of course, plenty of room for comedic manoeuvring within the Western genre, but MacFarlane ignores the good of the Western in favour of nit-pickery and snark. The Frontier setting in this case appears as little more than window dressing for bad and obvious jokes.
For MacFarlane’s sheep farmer, Albert, everything is terrible and everyone is stupid, and yet, the script and his various companions treat him as the Nicest Dude that Ever Herded. What we see is something entirely different, MacFarlane is unlikable and unfunny to boot, there’s only so much propping up that the sizable cast of A-Listers and guest stars can do for this turkey.
Surprisingly MacFarlane’s work behind the camera is well executed, there is a chase sequence that is worthy of some consideration. In fact the one thing that MacFarlane can be commended for is his handling of the sequences that are not supposed to make us laugh: damning praise for a funnyman.
Words: Luke Maxwell
For more film coverage this month, see our reviews of When I Saw You, Omar, Venus In Fur, Edge of Tomorrow and Grace of Monaco.
