Movie · 2014 · Comedy, Western · 1h 56m · R · English
Curator score: 0.8/10 (362.7K ratings)
Bring protection.
Overview
As a cowardly farmer begins to fall for the mysterious new woman in town, he must put his new-found courage to the test when her husband, a notorious gun-slinger, announces his arrival.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.8/10
IMDb: 6.1/10
Letterboxd: 2.49/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 33%
Metacritic: 44
TMDB: 6.1/10
Director
Seth MacFarlane
Production
RGB Media, Fuzzy Door Productions, MRC, Bluegrass Films
Cast
Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, Christopher Hagen, Wes Studi, Matt Clark, Evan Jones, Aaron McPherson, Rex Linn, Brett Rickaby, Alex Borstein, Ralph Garman, John Aylward, Jay Patterson, Amick Byram, Dennis Haskins
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A broad, raunchy western parody with a few sharp gags and some genuine charm, but it’s uneven and often feels stretched beyond its best ideas. If you like Seth MacFarlane’s brand of smug, reference-heavy comedy and don’t mind a loose, scattershot structure, it can be amusing; if you need sustained laughs or a stronger story, it’s likely a skip.
Best for
fans of crude studio comedies
viewers who enjoy western parody
people who like background-watchable comedies
audiences open to deadpan, self-aware humor
Skip if
you want consistent joke density
you dislike Seth MacFarlane’s comedic style
you prefer classic westerns played straight
you’re sensitive to gross-out or juvenile humor
Overview
A Million Ways to Die in the West is built on a simple comic premise: the Old West was absurdly dangerous, and the movie keeps finding new ways to underline that joke. The result is a film with occasional inspired bits, a few memorable supporting turns, and a polished production that knows how to look like a western even when it’s mostly behaving like a modern hangout comedy.
Worth noting
The problem is that the movie often confuses repetition for escalation. Its central joke can carry scenes, but not always a full feature, and the pacing drifts whenever the script pauses to admire its own snark. Charlize Theron gives the film more warmth and intelligence than it deserves, while the humor swings between clever genre mocking and broad, juvenile filler.
Bottom line
For viewers already aligned with MacFarlane’s sensibility, there’s enough here to justify a watch. For everyone else, it’s more of a curiosity than a must-see: a western parody with a handful of laughs, some solid craft, and a lot of dead air between the good bits.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Evan (0.5★) · 582 likes
Painfully unfunny. It was seriously a total struggle just to finish the damn movie. It really is THAT bad. Seth MacFarlane had self indulgence radiating off of him during the entire film.
Dakota Joaquin (3★) · 507 likes
Critics were too hard on this one. This is a perfect movie to play in the background when you’re busy doing other shit
liam f (2★) · 349 likes
Sergio Leone truly could never
DirkH (1★) · 287 likes
, But Not One Way To Shoot A Funny Comedy.
, Killing All Jokes In The Process.
, Is What McFarlane Said About His Career.
, With Watching This Film Holding The Nr. 1 Spot.
(Ba dum tss)
colin... (0.5★) · 228 likes
My girlfriend has a giant crush on Seth McFarlane and I think that's enough for me to disown her, right?