A Million Ways to Die In the West – Reviewed

This film was like trying to give CPR to a week-old swollen corpse found floating in a river. The technique was right but all vital signs were absent.

I wanted to like this film as Seth Macfarlane has proven his brilliance through Family Guy. Unfortunately for him, voice acting is his forte and all supporting cast members are superior in acting ability and delivering lines.
Even the script is weak considering how funny Family Guy is, but Seth wasn’t able to bring that magic to this project. Ted proved to be a huge hit and it was going to be tough to match it on any level with A Million Ways to Flop In the West. Seth’s acting is more wooden than the western set and he is upstaged by every other cast member from Charlize Theron to Liam Neeson. Arguably the funniest characters is that of Neil Patrick Harris the owner of the Moustachery who steals the lady Albert (Macfarlane) was once with, played by Amanda Seyfried.

This film is far from terrible and does manage to nail some jokes, just enough to prevent boredom from setting in. Potentially this could have been a great send up of the Western and much more – sadly the jokes largely have the aim of a Parkinsons sufferer wielding a submachine gun – erratic, but on occasion due to the sheer number of shots the odd one lands.

Another issue is that anyone who has watched a great deal of Family Guy will find it hard to separate Seth Macfarlane’s voice and his onscreen character.

Wait until the DVD comes out and watch it. Verdict: Caught with its pants down – on a very cold day.