Capsule Film Review: A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

In past half a century western was often pronounced to be dead as a genre, and films like 2014 Seth MacFarlane's comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West could be seen a proof for such claims. Based on relatively simple idea, this film features MacFarlane as Albert Stark, peaceful pioneer in the Old West whose unwillingness to use guns to settle disputes brought him reputation of a coward. He is about to quit and settle in San Francisco when a mysterious woman (played by Charlize Theron) teaches him gunslinger tricks, which would lead to Albert's conflict with her husband, dangerous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (played by Liam Neeson). MacFarlane allows audience to experience Old West in ist old glory through cinematography by Michael Barrett and musical score by Joel McNeely, but his attempts at humour, with exception of few lucid moments, fail and lead to too many jokes being in poor taste, repetitive, overlong or simply not funny.

RATING: 3/10