MacFarlane's obvious touchstone here is another Western comedy that was both crass and smartly provocative, Mel Brooks' 1974 Blazing Saddles. Check out the interactive photo below for more details on the scene. Albert calls it common sense. Hence A Million Ways to Die in the West, which is set in Arizona in 1882 and stars Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried and MacFarlane himself, who directs his live-action debut. When the rivalry leads to a duel, he gets help from an unexpected, beautiful source. If You've Only Got a Moustache. Coming Soon, Regal MacFarlane also relied on veteran singer and two-time Grammy nominee Amick Byram to do the vocals. All rights reserved. . As Albert and Anna start to fall for each other in the process, Anna has to decide if and when she will tell him the truth: that she is already married, albeit unhappily, to Clinch Leatherwood, a vicious outlaw who, along with his gang, she and Lewis are waiting for in Old Stump. Also starring Giovanni Ribisi and Sarah Silverman, the hilarious all-star cast delivers an offbeat mix of outrageous humor and quick wit. A winking mid-film cameo prompts viewers to wonder how MacFarlane might have fared playing a time-traveler from our era stranded in the Old West. Anna and Albert (20:25 - 24:45)12. Amick Byram. Please click the link below to receive your verification email. The marketplace doesnt seem to be crying out for Westerns, after all be they earnest revivals, satires, or genre hybrids involving extra-terrestrials and the undeniably of-his-moment MacFarlane is, as the script indirectly admits, a strange fit for the genre. A Million Ways to Die in the West is a 2014 American Western black comedy film directed by Seth MacFarlane and written by MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. Just below that it reads "Ticket Confirmation#:" followed by a 10-digit number. 12. Ted! A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Writing Credits Cast (in credits order) complete, awaiting verification Produced by Music by Joel McNeely Cinematography by Michael Barrett . Its justits a song about sperm, and yet they treat it with such legitimacy in their orchestration and their vocal performance and their choreography, and its this huge number with what looks to be over 100 dancers on screen. You can imagine him sitting in a writers' meeting for hours, writing down every funny thing that occurred to him and ticking them off a huge list as he tried to fit them all in. While Albert frets about Louises new romance with fancy-pants shopkeeper Foy (Neil Patrick Harris, whose vain moustache-tonic merchant is a reliable laugh-getter), Anna takes an inexplicable interest in helping him stand up for himself. Many modern westerns go for a gritty and earthy approach, eschewing the nostalgia of John Ford and John Wayne, but very few dramatic westerns dwell on the fine points of sudden, horrible death by anything other than a gun. 04-26-2015. Production designer: Stephen J. Lineweaver The actors theatrical dance training came in handy, too, particularly during the films "Mustache Song" scene. There are a lot of repeated jokes that just start to feel stale: the sixth joke about the prostitute played by Sarah Silverman being called away from her virginal boyfriend (Giovanni Ribisi) to have loud sex within earshot isn't any funnier than the first. Being a huge fan of westerns & Seth MacFarlane's work (Family guy, American Dad) I can honestly say that this was one of my favourite movies of the year and I really hope that there will be a sequel in the future or something similar. All Rights Reserved. Clinch Hunts Albert (24:45 - 28:36)13. Like, My God, you put all this work and all this time and all this artistry into a song about sperm?'. DVD. His direction is to westerns what Chris Columbus was to Harry Potter, with the camera remaining so static that we can tell when a joke is being set up just by looking at a given shot for more than a second. 4:18. It's very tempting to treat any film project as merely an excuse to get in more of the same material, or to allow the jokes to run on for longer than a 20-minute episode would usually permit. Albert is befriended by Anna, along with her "brother" Lewis who are new to Old Stump, and she who is self-admittedly "smokin' hot". A Million Ways to Die in the West is a disappointingly scattershot affair which will entertain Macfarlane fans but leave the rest of us with half-remembered frustration. Crushed by ice (1) 4. Ive shaved; Im shorn, Harris told Lauer, gesturing at his arms. A Million Ways to Die -- Alan Jackson (0:00 - 2:31) 2. But jokes that weren't funny the first time aren't funny the sixth time, either. A Million Ways to Die in the West R | comedy | 1 HR 56 MIN | 2014 WATCH NOW Watch on HBO Seth MacFarlane is the most cowardly sheep farmer this side of the Rio Grande in this Old West spoof. A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - Sh**ty Showdown, A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - If You've Only Got a Moustache, A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - You Really Do Have a Death Wish. Bridesmaids did nearly the same thing, but MacFarlane is determined to up the ante on that scene in every respect except the humor. Amick Byram. But when his girlfriend dumps him for the most insufferable guy in town, Albert decides to fight back--even though he can't shoot, ride, or throw a punch. Albert sitting at a table self-consciously telling a couple of friends a bunch of terrible ways the West can kill you, like a second-rate stand-up comic? Privacy Policy It's odd to point to [Mel] Brooks as a model of restraint, but 'Blazing Saddles' is a model of Bergmanesque austerity in comparison to 'A Million Ways to Die.' The initial idea has some comedic promise - someone can't attend a gunfight because he can't stop going to the toilet. Some people think that makes him a coward. And while a lot of the comedy is funny, the jokes are often taken too far or spoiled by some random bit of nonsense. A Million Ways To Die In The West Soundtrack Music by Joel McNeely Universal Pictures We live in a terrible place and time, Albert tells friends Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) and Ruth (Sarah Silverman), assessing his surroundings as if seeing medical and social realities through our eyes. But the performances are weak, due in part to the writing. A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - He Drank the Whole Bowl! His central performance is flat and weak, with no real character development and a cocky, chauvinistic quality which makes him unappealing. Set in 1882 in the American west, Albert is a lowly farmer with a nice girlfriend. 11. A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - That's a Dollar Bill! Your Ticket Confirmation # is located under the header in your email that reads "Your Ticket Reservation Details". But Albert isn't clever: he's as stupid as his creator believes his audience to be. Directed by Seth MacFarlane. Theres a barn dance that happens, and everyone thats there knows this dance, this incredibly complicated dance about mustaches, Harris explained. All these awesome productions that has gotten me through life and now we have the producer as the actor! Old Stump Bluegrass. 18 Songs, 41 minutes Sheep to the Horizon (40:05 - 42:10)18. While Neeson is largely boring, pitching it somewhere between Taken and Seraphim Falls, Theron is a lot more appealing and almost manages to make her role convincing in its own right. Seth MacFarlane stretches the boundaries of comedy and propriety as writer, producer, director, and actor in A Million Ways to Die in the West. Amid the Western comedy hijinks of writer/director/producer Seth MacFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West, poor farmer Albert gets dumped by his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) and a . He deconstructs his own joke while he's telling it, insulting our intelligence and bringing the pace of the scene to a grinding halt. "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" Seth Macfarlane has rapidly become of the most divisive comedians of the modern era. But when his character shows blithe insensitivity, by accepting the government's propaganda about Native American relations, it's a funnier way of poking at 19th century racial attitudes than the moments when Albert just comes out and tells us what we're supposed to be getting out of a scene. The same goes for the so-called climax, where Albert outwits Clinch in the final duel. the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes. A Million Ways to Die in the West When avoiding a showdown gets him dumped, a cowardly Old West sheep farmer in the vows to win back his girl by challenging her new lover to a draw - if he can learn to shoot first. Stupid stupid stupid! They won't be able to see your review if you only submit your rating. Your AMC Ticket Confirmation# can be found in your order confirmation email. Her "it's not you, it's me" reason rings false as she quickly starts up with mustachioed Foy, the wealthy owner of a mustache grooming products store, he who Albert knows he cannot compete in not being wealthy enough to be able to grow a groomed mustache. Tap "Sign me up" below to receive our weekly newsletter Apple Inc. Marvel Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer, Jurassic Park Movies Ranked By Tomatometer, The Most Anticipated TV & Streaming Shows of March 2023, Pokmon Detective Pikachu Sequel Finds Its Writer and Director, and More Movie News. Where Brooks made a funny point about bean-sparked frontier flatulence in one brief and memorable scene, MacFarlane can't let five minutes go by without a fart joke. . Get the freshest reviews, news, and more delivered right to your inbox! While both filmmakers brought modern dialogue to an historic setting, Macfarlane doesn't do anything constructive with this conceit. Box Office: Michael B. 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Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast, Psycho (The Complete Original Motion Picture Score), Bernard Herrmann: The Twilight Zone Conducted By Joel McNeely (Music From Television Series), Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (Original Soundtrack), 007: Casino Royale (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Deluxe Version], The Magnificent Seven (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Hercules (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey (Music from the Original TV Series), Vol. Naylor said to the writers present: "It doesn't matter how many one-liners you think of, it's not going to solve the problem. But Seth MacFarlane's newly released theme song from . There is no better example of this than the all-too lengthy scene involving Neil Patrick Harris getting the runs during the gunfight. But Macfarlane shows us far too much, repeating the same joke over and over without progressing the scene, and then giving us the totally unnecessarily close-up of the hat full of faeces. What about this? Seth MacFarlane, the rowdy "Family Guy" creator who wrote, directed, and stars in the new comedy "A Million Ways to Die in the West," stopped by TODAY Thursday to talk about the film. Instead, we get everything that crossed their minds. Cinemark It's odd to point to Brooks as a model of restraint, but Blazing Saddles is a model of Bergmanesque austerity in comparison to A Million Ways to Die. 15. There are subtle, smart jokes scattered throughout the film, but they tend to get drowned by the bleating volume of lazy jokes about bodily functions, racial and gender stereotypes and learning-disabled sheep. When a mysterious and beautiful woman (Charlize Theron) rides into town, she helps him find his courage as they begin to fall in love. A Million Ways to Die in the West: Trailer 1, A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - Ways to Die, A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - Eddie's Girl, A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - Things Could Be a Lot Worse, A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - Eddie's First Time. A Million Ways to Die in the West hits theaters on May 30. 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. Seth MacFarlane, who wrote and directed A Million Ways to Die in the West, stars as Albert, a cowardly sheep farmer who inadvertently falls in love with the wife (Charlize Theron) of a dangerous outlaw (Liam Neeson). The Shooting Lesson (13:55 - 16:14)9. (At least the two had plenty of company: The camera swept around the studio to reveal that TODAYs behind-the-scenes crew had donned fake mustaches, as well.). It just makes it that much funnier. 116 minutes. By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie. Rattlesnake Ridge (10:07 - 11:36)7. A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - Great Scott. Theron carries almost all the weight here, given her partners unexpected blandness, which makes it vaguely insulting when the third act turns her into a helpless damsel in need of his rescue. In A Million Ways to Die in the West, the town pastor regales of the time he killed a man in a duel and then went to that man's home and proceeded to murder his 16-year-old son. Just as was with Ted, so it is with Macfarlane's second film, A Million Ways to Die in the West (hereafter A Million Ways). A Million Ways to Die in the West [DVD] [2014] 4.6 out of 5 stars. I'LL HAVE TO WATCH IT AGAIN TO GET THE QUICK STUFF, BUT REAL FUNNY. Saloon Brawl (8:05 - 10:07)6. (The preceding sentence contains more Western-ese than the entire script MacFarlane wrote with Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, which instead dates itself with lines like Oh, snap! Oh no I did-uhnt! and douche.), STORY:Inside the Million Ways to Die in the West Premiere. Like Brooks, MacFarlane attempts to hit satirical hot buttons, making jokes at the expense of racists and the closed-minded, and employing strategic anachronisms and fourth-wall breaking to help make points about the ridiculousness of old-fashioned attitudes. A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - Great Scott! Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for A Million Ways to Die in the West, MacFarlane, Seth, 9780553391671 at the best online prices at eBay! A Million Ways to Die in the West: Official Clip - He Drank the Whole Bowl! All rights reserved. A good way of illustrating the central problem with this film is to be found in Dwarfing USA, a DVD documentary about the ill-fated American version of Red Dwarf. Macfarlane can do so much better as both an actor and a writer, but the biggest compliment you can pay this film is that it makes you want to rewatch Blazing Saddles, to see how it really should be done. All rights reserved. She is now with a dapper, successful, extroverted store owner, Foy, a fact Foy keeps reminding him of. Although she states otherwise, the shoot-out is arguably the last straw for Louise, Albert's vain girlfriend, who breaks up with him. When a sheep herder who hates the West saves a young lady during a bar fight they strike up a friendship that helps him gain some self-confidence. He could have done any number of things - but as usual he settles for the cheap gag and the fast buck over anything involving either thought or genuine creativity. Most of the biggest gags in A Million Ways - in other words, the ones that made the trailer - are lowest common denominator fare designed to get a quick shock and a shameful laugh. And by producing it, alongside good friends Scott Stuber and Jason Clark, there is no-one to rein him in when he starts being narratively flatulent as well as comedically so. 12 offers from $5.20. This 10-digit number is your confirmation number. Its central premise and its cast both have undoubted potential, but every good idea it has is quickly ground down into third-rate physical or scatalogical jokes which are poorly directed, have no staying power, and are offensive for all the wrong reasons. Cinematographer: Michael Barrett 669. Music: Joel McNeely, Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day. A passive, shy sheep farmer tries to avoid conflict, a trait which has kept him alive but has now resulted in his girlfriend leaving him. Comedy. In the hands of a director who understood that suggestion is often more effective than being explicit, the joke could have worked reasonably well.