It never quite hits the advertised number, but as "A Million Ways to Die in the West" goes on, it keeps a pretty good running total: Cholera, gun battle, rattlesnake, knifefight, hanging.
But as creator Seth MacFarlane could tell you, for a comedian there's only one way to die: Be unfunny.
He had a taste of mortality hosting the Oscars two years ago, when some of his jokes didn't just offend, but — worse — fell flat. And he certainly knew he was risking a lot with this new movie, a comedy western.
Well -dodged a bullet.
Because "A Million Ways to Die in the West" is, yes, often offensive and juvenile. (It's Seth MacFarlane, after all.) But it's also often funny and even occasionally pretty clever.
Starring in his own script, MacFarlane plays Albert, an intelligent and smartly cautious man who's somehow ended up as a sheepherder in the Wild West. Which he hates with almost as much passion as he loves his schoolmarm girlfriend, Louise.
But she leaves him for a rich man, and it seems as if things couldn't get much worse. Except then the territory's worst gunslinger passes through, and his wife begins to take a shine to this shy shepherd. And suddenly things do, indeed, get a whole lot worse, MacFarlane, who directs as well, isn't the most obvious movie star. With his pleasant but inexpressive face and shoe-button eyes, he looks a little like "Ted," the dirty teddy bear he created (he talks like him, too) — cuddly but unengaged.
The movie also misses out on a nice joke by having everyone sound alike — which is to say, like the same, foul-mouthed, 21st-century cynic. It keeps Albert from standing out; it'd be funnier if everyone but he spoke with florid 19th-century style.
But MacFarlane is game for pratfalls, and he has a good supporting cast around him, including Neil Patrick Harris as a romantic rival, Sarah Silverman as a perpetually upbeat hooker, Liam Neeson as that dreaded gunslinger and a few surprise guest stars — including one post-credits one — whose identities I'll keep secret here.
He also has a secret weapon in Charlize Theron who showed her taste for rude comedy in "Young Adult" but hasn't gotten much of a chance since. Here, as the gunman's wife, she cuts a confident, eye-catching figure (and occasionally uncorks a terrific dirty laugh) while still rooting her character in reality. As a comedian, MacFarlane often can't help going for the gross-out joke. There barely a bodily fluid that not only gets its own gag, but gag-worthy closeup, too; his slightly self- conscious, I'm-a-bad-boy act also includes the usual non-PC tweaks at race and religion.
But as a filmmaker, he shows a real appreciation for genre (the movie starts with shots of John Ford's beloved desert landscapes, and a rolling Elmer Bernstein-style score). Some flashes of style, too, particularly in a psychedelic dream out of Dali, and some clever in- jokes.
Admitted, for all its wild satire and crude humor, "A Million Ways to Die in the West" is no "Blazing Saddles" (although it does share a fondness for jokes about passing gas); only briefly does it risk going as fearlessly over the comedy cliff as Mel Brooks did regularly.
But it's well-made, often (and outrageously) funny, and manages to keep up the pace and interest for nearly two hours. Clearly there's more to MacFarlane than a bad Oscar show, "Ted" and some Fox-TV toons. It'll be fun to see what he finds funny next.
i'll give it 6 out of 10.
But as creator Seth MacFarlane could tell you, for a comedian there's only one way to die: Be unfunny.
He had a taste of mortality hosting the Oscars two years ago, when some of his jokes didn't just offend, but — worse — fell flat. And he certainly knew he was risking a lot with this new movie, a comedy western.
Well -dodged a bullet.
Because "A Million Ways to Die in the West" is, yes, often offensive and juvenile. (It's Seth MacFarlane, after all.) But it's also often funny and even occasionally pretty clever.
Starring in his own script, MacFarlane plays Albert, an intelligent and smartly cautious man who's somehow ended up as a sheepherder in the Wild West. Which he hates with almost as much passion as he loves his schoolmarm girlfriend, Louise.
But she leaves him for a rich man, and it seems as if things couldn't get much worse. Except then the territory's worst gunslinger passes through, and his wife begins to take a shine to this shy shepherd. And suddenly things do, indeed, get a whole lot worse, MacFarlane, who directs as well, isn't the most obvious movie star. With his pleasant but inexpressive face and shoe-button eyes, he looks a little like "Ted," the dirty teddy bear he created (he talks like him, too) — cuddly but unengaged.
The movie also misses out on a nice joke by having everyone sound alike — which is to say, like the same, foul-mouthed, 21st-century cynic. It keeps Albert from standing out; it'd be funnier if everyone but he spoke with florid 19th-century style.
But MacFarlane is game for pratfalls, and he has a good supporting cast around him, including Neil Patrick Harris as a romantic rival, Sarah Silverman as a perpetually upbeat hooker, Liam Neeson as that dreaded gunslinger and a few surprise guest stars — including one post-credits one — whose identities I'll keep secret here.
He also has a secret weapon in Charlize Theron who showed her taste for rude comedy in "Young Adult" but hasn't gotten much of a chance since. Here, as the gunman's wife, she cuts a confident, eye-catching figure (and occasionally uncorks a terrific dirty laugh) while still rooting her character in reality. As a comedian, MacFarlane often can't help going for the gross-out joke. There barely a bodily fluid that not only gets its own gag, but gag-worthy closeup, too; his slightly self- conscious, I'm-a-bad-boy act also includes the usual non-PC tweaks at race and religion.
But as a filmmaker, he shows a real appreciation for genre (the movie starts with shots of John Ford's beloved desert landscapes, and a rolling Elmer Bernstein-style score). Some flashes of style, too, particularly in a psychedelic dream out of Dali, and some clever in- jokes.
Admitted, for all its wild satire and crude humor, "A Million Ways to Die in the West" is no "Blazing Saddles" (although it does share a fondness for jokes about passing gas); only briefly does it risk going as fearlessly over the comedy cliff as Mel Brooks did regularly.
But it's well-made, often (and outrageously) funny, and manages to keep up the pace and interest for nearly two hours. Clearly there's more to MacFarlane than a bad Oscar show, "Ted" and some Fox-TV toons. It'll be fun to see what he finds funny next.
i'll give it 6 out of 10.