A Million Ways to Die in the West

"A Million Ways to Die in the West "

"As Reported by Dollyforme"

Alrighty then, another movie review with a hot older Hollywood babe in it.

This babe is none other than Charlize Theron. She is a South African and American actress, producer, director, and fashion model. She rose to fame in the late 1990s following roles in the films The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999). Theron received critical acclaim for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003), for which she won the Silver Bear, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Academy Award for Best Actress among several other accolades, becoming the first South African to win an Academy Award in a major acting category. In recent years, she has moved into the field of producing, both in television and film.

In 2012, she appeared in Snow White & the Huntsman and Prometheus, both of which were box office successes. This movie is kinda crappy, and sadly no one appears nude in it at all. However, it is a funny Western comedy — something not easy to do.

In this movie - Writer-producer-director MacFarlane also stars as Albert Stark, a sheep farmer in the town of Old Stump, Ariz. He frequently lists all the things he hates about the frontier of 1882, specifically all the things that can kill him.

Then, his girlfriend, Louise (Amanda Seyfried) — the one thing that makes his life bearable — dumps him. Just as he’s about to give up and leave town, he meets the charming and mysterious Anna (Charlize Theron), who knows how to shoot, and knows something about men.

Anna offers to train Albert’s trigger finger when Albert unexpectedly agrees to a shootout with Louise’s new beau, the mustachioed Foy (Neil Patrick Harris). The other boot drops when Anna’s husband, the notorious outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson) arrives in town.

Filming in New Mexico and Monument Valley — places where many great Westerns were shot — MacFarlane creates and utilizes a bold, colorful, open-air space. A rousing score by Joel McNeely and a couple of goofy songs help set the mood.

Our beauty Theron has never been so delightful in a movie, Harris is very funny, and Neeson looks like an honest-to-goodness cowboy. (He was also in the terrific, underrated Western “Seraphim Falls.”)

The filmmaker even finds a spot for legendary Cherokee Nation actor Wes Studi (“Geronimo: An American Legend”), helping the hero through a hilarious dream ritual.

If only “Million Ways” weren’t so long. There seems to be a trend to make summer movies as long as possible so audiences seem to get more for their dollar.

Running nearly two hours — “Blazing Saddles” was 93 minutes — the narrative hits a few dead spaces as the pace slackens or jokes fall flat in the dirt.

Though “A Million Ways to Die in the West” lacks the stuff of a classic, it has enough classical elements to recommend it. Let’s hope MacFarlane continues to fight for good guys everywhere. So – worth seeing for the laughs – but don’t expect any nudity or graphic sex – there’s none to be had. But there are more than a few funny jokes.