Judd Apatow’s films are cited for off-setting their low-brow stylings with a tangible sweetness. Seth McFarlane is Apatow’s artistic complement – the Family Guy/American Dad creator’s comedy empire is defined by a healthy mean streak. That mean streak helps mark his new film away from other Western comedies, but can’t make up for the overall scarcity of sustained laughs.
Having parlayed the success of Ted into his first major on-screen acting role, McFarlane proves an affable-enough presence, if a little ranty. Stopping just short of directly addressing the camera, he spends a lot of the film loudly describing events around him. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s okay in and of itself that all the humour is snappily anachronistic, but the style conflicts with the film’s attempts to have genuine stakes as both a thriller and a romance.
Liam Neeson’s bad guy is played entirely straight, and McFarlane’s courting of Charlize Theron occasionally plays with the gag-inducing coyness of a Katherine Heigl rom-com. There are some decent laughs here though, even if they all hover around the same three or so ideas (violent death; prostitution; moustaches). Neil Patrick Harris brings a lot to the table, and Sarah Silverman and Giovanni Ribisi are both appealing, if one-note.
Between the comedic set-pieces – I would say about 50% of which are successful (I hearby declare poo off limits in cinematic comedy for at least ten years) – it can get pretty ponderous.
‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ Movie Times
