A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST

(2014) 116 Minutes, Rated R

Mike's Review: This movie entertained me. It made me laugh out loud a couple of times. There were some funny scenes and some stupid scenes and some stupid funny scenes.  I like all the little cameo's through out the movie.  I think the one of Doc Brown would have been better if they hadn't spoiled it in the previews. The story was for the most part not to bad.  All in all if you like Seth MacFarlane and his type of...lets say 'bold' humor than you should like this movie

Best Scene:  The filling the hat scene was a riot..

Mike's Rating: Matinee

Bean's Review: As I was expecting this movie to be fairly silly, I was not as disappointed as I have been with more recent movies.  Unfortunately, this movie could have been much more humorous.  This movie was definitely not even in the same comedic ball park as Ted, which was hilarious.  Charlize Theron’s talents were wasted in this movie.  Seth MacFarlane’s diatribes about dying in the West were amusing, but he should stick to producing, directing and just voicing his role.  MacFarlane’s obsession with feces and defecating is not funny whatsoever and he should explore other avenues of expressing humor.  I did enjoy Giovanni Ribisi’s role, but it should have been expanded.  Some of the cameos were also entertaining.

Best scene:  When MacFarlane’s character falls off the cliff from the recoil of the gun       

Bean’s rating:  DVD

A.C.’s Review:  The Wild, Wild West as a comedy rides again! Or does it? That depends on if you enjoy the humor of Seth MacFarlane the creative force behind FAMILY GUY and its siblings AMERICAN DAD and the CLEVELAND SHOW.

Following the success of the comedy TED it appears the studio pretty much gave Seth a blank check creatively so to speak to create A MILLIONS DAYS IN THE WEST and his imprint is all over it from star, to writer, to producer to director. What you would call a good old fashion vanity project.

The story follows sheep rancher Albert Stark who after being jilted by his girlfriend for the local rich tool finds himself in an unlikely romance with a desperados wife who is currently in the frontier town where Stark lives waiting to be reunited with the outlaw played by Liam Neeson.

Unaware that she (Charlize Theron) is the wife of the most dangerous man in the territory Stark not only learns to shoot but gains much confidence with the female gunslingers help.

Along the way the movie is filled with numerous sight gags, cameos, double entandres, plenty of  slapstick and Seth’s trademark toilet humor. Is it funny? A lot of it surely is from the subtle (a riff on how no one ever smiles in photos from the 19^th century) to truly laugh out loud bits (the scene were Stark is hiding from bad guys amidst his herd of sheep). Some things fall flat (the “flower scene” with Neeson near the end) and others that would have been absoluty hilarious (A certain cameo in the barn and the Mila Kunis bit) were spoiled in the trailers.

The weakest thing I think is trying to make Seth a leading man…he’s more suited to play the funny sidekick. I can easily see this having been a better movie is say James Franco played Stark.

To the studio and probably Seth’s astonishment the movie tanked at the box office. I will admit being surprised as I thought this was going to be block buster. Though I would welcome a sequel its unlikely now. Hopefully Seth will forget about films for a while and start working on the much delayed FLINTSTONES reboot for TV.

I want to end on an up note though. The movie is actually stolen by Stark’s best pals a couple played by Giovanni Ribisi and Sarah Silverman. They share a strangely sweet  and yet deliciously funny and ironic story in which Silverman is one of the town’s many hookers who details her many daily services in casual conversation to her boyfriend who is completely unfazed. The kicker is the couple has forsworn intimacy with each other until marriage. These two characters were a lot of fun and I’d rather they had bigger roles. Also of note was Neil Patrick Harris as the rich tool and Amada Seyfriend as the jilting girlfriend-they made a good pair of quasi villains. Just a great cast over all.

Best Scene: Well I can’t really pinpoint a best scene but I will say the funniest line that got the most laughs 

was when a character yells “Oh Snap!”  Also special mention for the opening scenes that capture the 

breathtaking beauty of Monument Valley. There is something magical an timeless about Monument Valley 

in that it has been unspoiled by modern development that when you see it on screen you really believe it’s still 1882.

A.C.’s Rating: Matinee
 

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