A Million Ways to Die in the West (3¾ Stars)

When I told my friends that I was going to see "A Million Ways to Die in the West" a few of them asked me if I was a Seth MacFarlane fan. I didn't know what to answer. Sure, I know who he is, but I haven't seen enough of his work to make a judgement. I've never watched "Family Guy", which is what he's most famous for. My reasons for wanting to watch the film were simple:

(1) I found the trailer hilarious, because I have a black sense of humour when it comes to people dying.

(2) The film stars two of the sexiest women in Hollywood, Amanda Seyfried and Charlize Theron.

The underlying story is a romantic comedy, spiced with black humour. It's very much Seth MacFarlane's film, since he wrote, produced and directed it, as well as playing the film's main character. I've never understood how anyone can direct himself. It seems somehow weird. Does the director hand over his chair to someone else when he steps in front of the camera?

The film takes place in an unnamed town in Arizona in 1882. Albert Stark (Seth MacFarlane) is an unsuccessful sheep farmer whose girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) has left him for the town's moustacher, if that's the correct word. What do you call the man who works in a moustachery? It's a weird word for an obsolete career. Anna (Charlize Theron), the wife of a feared bandit, arrives in town and attempts to train Albert to be a gunfighter, so that he can win Louise back.

Lots of people die in the most ridiculous ways. The humour is highly inappropriate throughout, but nevertheless funny. Well, with the exception of a few very disgusting scenes, which made me groan rather than laugh. I've never appreciated faecal humour. I would have rated the film higher, if not for those jokes.

I'm surprised to read that the film has received mostly negative reviews. I enjoyed it, and I can recommend it to my readers, whether they're Seth MacFarlane fans or not.

Charlize Theron, the most beautiful woman in the West

One more way to die in the West