A Million Ways to Die in the West
I'll admit, I've been laughing at the trailers for A Million Ways to Die in the West. MacFarlane is hit or miss for me. I think he's a very smart, funny man without the ability to edit or recognize moderation. His work is wildly erratic as a result. I think the only ones who probably are consistently entertained by everything he does are teenaged boys.
That being said, I still wanted to see this. So we went last night, in spite of how bad the reviews were.
His flaws are on prominent display here. Why do one joke when ten will fit? It's like he thinks if he offers enough of them, it doesn't matter that at least half will fall flat because the other half will hit. In fact, my favorite jokes were the ones that seemed to be played straight. Because I did laugh, I'll give the movie that. But there were equal, if not more, moments of "yuck" and rolling my eyes and "ohmigod, not another one."
Comparisons to Mel Brooks and Blazing Saddles are all over the place, but as much as he might want to be, MacFarlane isn't Brooks. There's parody and satire galore, but his work doesn't have the subtlety that Brooks usually does.
What I enjoyed:
- Charlize Theron. She was beautiful and charming in this.
- Giovanni Ribisi. I love this guy no matter what he does.
- Watching for cameos. Always fun.
Do I recommend it? I can't. It's too over the top and too flawed. Alex wanted to see it, and there is no way that's happening. We're making that up to them by going to see an early matinee of Maleficent today. Alex has been dying to see that one, too.
That being said, I still wanted to see this. So we went last night, in spite of how bad the reviews were.
His flaws are on prominent display here. Why do one joke when ten will fit? It's like he thinks if he offers enough of them, it doesn't matter that at least half will fall flat because the other half will hit. In fact, my favorite jokes were the ones that seemed to be played straight. Because I did laugh, I'll give the movie that. But there were equal, if not more, moments of "yuck" and rolling my eyes and "ohmigod, not another one."
Comparisons to Mel Brooks and Blazing Saddles are all over the place, but as much as he might want to be, MacFarlane isn't Brooks. There's parody and satire galore, but his work doesn't have the subtlety that Brooks usually does.
What I enjoyed:
- Charlize Theron. She was beautiful and charming in this.
- Giovanni Ribisi. I love this guy no matter what he does.
- Watching for cameos. Always fun.
Do I recommend it? I can't. It's too over the top and too flawed. Alex wanted to see it, and there is no way that's happening. We're making that up to them by going to see an early matinee of Maleficent today. Alex has been dying to see that one, too.