Hollywood is suggesting Seth MacFarlene stick to his day job. At least hiring Charlize Theron was a smart move. She’s beautiful when she’s not trying to be Angelina Jolie!
Even if you’re not a fan of Seth MacFarlane, you have to acknowledge that the comedic multi-hyphenate has built an empire with his quick-fire, profanity-laced delivery and encyclopedic understanding of pop culture. You’ve got to give him something for the fearlessness, and possibly tonal cluelessness, with which he tackles material. The problem of course is that, armed with that gusto, MacFarlane often belly flops when he’s outside of his comfort zone. He’s printed his own money off the success of satiric, scatological cartoons like “FamilyGuy” and “American Dad,” and his blockbuster film “Ted” was comprised of such of-the-moment jokes that there’s a gag built around Susan Boyle, but when he, say, tries to host the Oscars, or attempts a live-action show in the same dim bulb style as his animated series (“Dads“), things become downright disastrous. MacFarlane takes his biggest leap yet with this week’s “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” a costly comedic western earned from the goodwill that “Ted” box-office wrought. And it’s as ambitious as it is misguided – a sloppy, unfunny bore that makes Adam Sandler’s “Blended” look like “Some Like It Hot.” Continue
