LOW BROW

It was so hot today when I was walking in the city I ducked into a picture theatre to take advantage of the air conditioning. The only film showing at that time was A million ways to die in the West.

If you are thinking of going to see this I'd suggest that you don't bother unless your eyebrows meet up in the middle.

This film is plain awful. It is:

Obnoxious
Racist
Ugly
Obscene
Immature
Pathetic
and basically unfunny.

It tries to be trendy, transposing 2014 'values' into 1882 Arizona. Even though there are a few excellent and big name actors in it the principal actor (and director and producer) couldn't raise a laugh in a tank of nitrous oxide.
Sure there were some guffaws and giggles from the young people in the audience but I felt that it was a shame. They are being served up junk that has been done so much better and with a bit of class in the past. Even the broad slapstick humour of Mel Brooks in the 1974 Blazing Saddles was far superior.

I did find one segment mildly amusing though. This was in a mescalin dream sequence with dancing sheep and Dali-esque surreal images. The hero is riding a penny farthing bike down main street and collides with a whole lot of horses 'parked' outside a saloon. The horses all topple over in a domino effect like motorcycles in a biker film.

It saddens me that in 2014 film makers, with all the resources of 'Hollywood' along with astronomical budgets, cannot improve on the dubious humour of a 50's/60's 'Carry-On' film. At least those, given the censorship of the time, worked hard at using clever innuendo. This film doesn't even try at that as censorship has become so lax. The obviousness of the sexual references can only appeal to onanistic teenage boys.