Just got back from an advanced screening of "A Million Ways to Die in the West".
tl;dr: It was hilarious and I laughed my ass off.
Now for the spoiler free review.
It starts out amazingly like an old West movie. Towering vistas and desert with credits and the western music. It just
felt like a real old-timey western. And then it starts. That's where the similarities ended.
The story was pretty predictable. There was nothing new anywhere in this movie, but then again as a comedy I wasn't looking for the twist or shocking ending. Instead, I look at the question did it make me laugh? Holy shit did it ever! Seth plays a sheep farmer who is a bit of a coward. His life is a shambles and his girlfriend doesn't much care for this. I won't go any further since it would be getting into spoiler territory, so let me just go down the list of cast members.
Seth MacFarlane is the perfect guy to play this part. He's sharp, his jokes just work and he brings a kind of "WTF" to the whole wild west motif.
Charlize Theron is also well cast as the new love interest who helps Seth find his backbone. Her character isn't very deep, but she somehow brings a lot of depth to her anyway, despite the writing that seems to make her more a window dressing than anything.
Amanda Seyfried is the girlfriend and she is mostly wasted in this movie. I mean, she's a great actress, but she has nothing much to do but be the foil. But then again it ain't her movie.
Liam Neesen just chews up the fucking screen whenever he's on it. You kind of expect this, but he's a badass and it really shines through. GREAT bad guy!
Neil Patrick Motherfucking Harris. Need I say more? Dude has a fairly minor part but every time he's onscreen it just works. He steals almost every scene he's in. Maybe I'm biased, though. Love that guy.
Giovanni Ribisi has a fairly large but unremarkable part, but he plays it with relish and a comedic timing that is awesome.
Sarah Silverman is Ribisi's prostitute girlfriend that...well, see the movie.
The jokes are centered around the west and how bad it is. Sometimes they are said like they are there and sometimes the references are obviously coming from a more 21st century perspective. But it works. And it works well. In most comedies, the funny parts are in the trailers and commercials and sometimes that's about it. In this movie, the scenes from the trailers go on longer and have more to them (with a few exceptions) and look funnier on the big screen.
Couple highlights (non-spoilered):
- Credits. Seriously, listen to the music during the credits and watch. There is something post-credits, but it's very fast.
- When [redacted] is in the [redacted]! Man, I couldn't believe he was there!
- NPH trying to take a guy's hat. Once is funny. Twice is hysterical. Five times? Awesome!
- Cameos!
If you like Family Guy you'll love this movie. If you liked Ted you'll LOVE this movie. If you didn't like Ted, you'll love this movie. I guess I'm saying this movie is better than Ted. And by better I mean by an order of magnitude.
In synopsis: Laughed long. Laughed loud. My wife stayed awake during the whole thing. (You have no idea how huge that is.) I may go see it again and I WILL be buying the DVD just to catch all the things I missed because they went by too fast.
Solid 8/10.
