Last week, I made a very last-minute decision to view Seth MacFarlane’s new film “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” a comedy that I had been dreading since reading the first bad reviews from reliable critics. This dread was not out of any kind of loathing for MacFarlane. It was quite the opposite. I really like the guy’s humor. “Family Guy” and a couple of his other creations have made me laugh uncontrollably in the past. I simply wasn’t looking forward to the disappointment.
For me, MacFarlane is like a friend whose company you enjoy even though some of your other friends don’t like the guy. You try not to let their opinion of him bother you, but whenever he has his lame moments, you start to resent him more and more.
When he started “Family Guy” in 1999, I immediately forgave the show for trying to be a more irreverent version of “The Simpsons” when I realized that its jokes were great. At this point, “The Simpsons” was starting to get weak, and “Family Guy,” like “South Park,” may not have been a replacement in quality animation or progressive messages, but it was quite adequate in giving me the laughs I desired.
Multiple timeslot changes, a hiatus and an official cancellation followed. It seemed as though MacFarlane couldn’t catch a break. Eventually the advent of DVD television seasons and syndicated reruns escalated the show’s popularity. Before long, it was back on and its creator had a multiple deals in the works. Through writing, directing, producing and providing voices, he proved to be something of a cottage industry, but he was bound to stretch himself thin. Now, I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t make a point of catching a new “Family Guy.” I have no idea if it’s going to be amazing or terrible.
It seems now that MacFarlane is a businessman without consistency in his products. One of the greatest things his success accomplished was the ability to afford big expensive throwaway jokes, which might require famous actors, higher-quality animation or the rights to use music or clips from other movies. The other greatest product of his success is his huge investment in one of the most important educational programs to air on network television. But that’s another story.
So why does “A Million Ways to Die in the West” suck? Well, it showcases very little of MacFarlane’s talents and demonstrates that years of multitasking have prevented him from developing any new ones. He still has some rather immature attitudes, especially about relationships between women and men. He’s also never been a good storyteller and has always been at his worst when he needlessly focuses on the narrative aspect of his work to no avail. It’s screwball comedy, Seth! It doesn’t need to make sense or have depth. This is why the final act of the mostly hilarious “Ted” suffered.
The trailer for “A Million Ways…” had my enthusiasm. The concept of a movie that shoots down romanticized notions the Old West by showing all the disease, starvation, murder and poverty in a lighthearted context should have provided endless laughs. Instead, I counted about four.
I’ve never considered “Blazing Saddles” to be the timeless classic that many other people do, but I have a newfound appreciation for it being one of the only decent lampoons of the American western movie. How is it that a movie buff like MacFarlane, with a reputation for great spoofs, does nothing of the sort here? Has MacFarlane seen any westerns besides “Django Unchained” and “Back to the Future Part III”?
Another area where Seth excels is in musical numbers. There’s only one of those in this film. While it was one of the rare funny moments, he’s done way better on TV. If there were to be any show-stealer in this movie, a giant over-the-top musical number about something terrible would have been it.
On a film production level, he’s doing everything right.
The lush cinematography of Monument Valley, costumes, cast and music score all set up a perfect-looking western to be turned on its head. Unfortunately MacFarlane and his co-writers didn’t do enough of their job in making the latter happen. There are clever moments here and there, but I have no idea why they thought this script was good to go.
MacFarlane can sing, do voices, run multiple shows, make movies and many other things. The problem is that he can’t do all of this alone and maintain the quality that his long-time fans expect or win over new fans by fixing the flaws that have always plagued his work. He needs to make a change. Mass success can lead to business obligations, which kill creativity. Just look at George Lucas. An ego can do the same. M. Night Shyamalan is the proof in that area. I just hate to see talent go in a horrible direction.
Bennett Duckworth is a film fanatic who lives in Louisville and goes to see a movie in the theater at least once a week. He has kept a movie review blog since September of 2011 with the mission of writing about every new release he sees, as well as new trends in filmmaking and classic films he loves. You can read more of his reviews at www.bennettduckworth.blogspot.com.
