THE FILM:

Seth MacFarlane swings hard and fast at an assault of incoming jokes, but the overall effect of A Million Ways to Die in the West is disappointing. The film's best gag is right there in the title, but that does not stop MacFarlane and company from beating that joke into the dusty ground. This rapid-fire approach to comedy will be familiar to fans of "Family Guy," "American Dad" and MacFarlane's full-length directorial debut, Ted. I think his style works in small doses, and A Million Ways to Die in the West runs way too long at 116 minutes. Supporting players Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi and Neil Patrick Harris put on a good show, but I grew bored with the film around the halfway point.

I'll skip some sort of cliché metaphor to describe the film's biggest flaw: Simply put, A Million Ways to Die in the West works too hard for a laugh. MacFarlane hits the audience with would-be zinger after would-be zinger, and, for at least the first half hour, all he gets are chirping crickets. The director shows up on screen and in the flesh as sheep farmer Albert Stark. His cowardice and general lack of frontier sensibilities drives girlfriend Louise (Seyfried) into the arms of slick gunslinger Foy (Harris). Dejected and bored, Stark happens upon Anna, a tough, beautiful woman who happens to be married to outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Neeson). There is not a whole lot of narrative drive here, save for Anna and Albert's awkward friendship/romance and the general hostility of the Old West environment.

MacFarlane brings his trademark cable humor to the silver screen, complete with many extended cutaways and delayed payoffs. Some of this works; a lot of it does not. Half-hour primetime television just feels different than a two-hour movie, and the structure here is kind of exhausting. I was checking my watch about the time A Million Ways to Die in the West improves. It does so by focusing a lot more on Theron, who plays the coolest, most beautiful, idealized woman ever to squeeze into a corset. The actress plays well with MacFarlane and matches him line for line, making even the most undignified humor digestible.

Ribisi, as Albert's best friend Edward, and Sarah Silverman, as Edward's prostitute girlfriend Ruth, share some funny scenes - mostly at Silverman's expense. Seyfriend and Harris have fun with what little they have to work with, and earn a couple of awkward laughs in their cardboard-cutout roles. After much meandering, MacFarlane reintroduces villain Leatherwood, though it is never clear if Neeson is playing a Looney Tunes nemesis or a true adversary. A lot of things just exist for the sake of it in A Million Ways to Die in the West. The title truly is the cleverest part. MacFarlane's camera work and scene staging improves, but the script needs work.

THE BLU-RAY:

PICTURE:

The 2.40:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image culled from a digital source looks expectedly great. The opening shots recall a John Ford western, and the depth of field is nearly limitless in these giant wide shots. Detail is often exceptional, from the far-away western vistas to the close-ups of dust-caked faces. Contrast is good despite the oppressive sun, and shadow detail is more than acceptable. I noticed some very minor banding, but little else to detract from the score.

SOUND:

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix includes a number of solid surround effects, and gunshots, herding cattle and ambient noise circle the room and awaken the subwoofer. Dialogue is crisp and clean. The nicely conducted score is weighty and authentic, and everything is balanced appropriately. French and Spanish 5.1 DTS tracks are available, as are English SDH, French and Spanish subs.

PACKAGING AND EXTRAS:

A Million Ways to Die in the West receives the typical Universal "combo pack" treatment, which includes the Blu-ray, a DVD copy, and both iTunes and UltraViolet digital copies. A slipcover wraps the standard Blu-ray case. The Blu-ray includes both the Theatrical Version (1:56:01) and an Extended, Unrated Version (2:14:44). The extras are not especially memorable: You get an Alternate Opening (3:27/HD); an Alternate Ending (0:47/HD); and some Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes (10:49/HD). There's an EPK-style making-of, Once Upon a Time, in a Different West (10:06/HD), with on-set footage and cast interviews, as well as a Gag Reel (5:43/HD). A couple of featurettes, A Fistful of Dirt... In Your Mouth (10:49/HD) and The Good, the Bad, and the Increasingly Decreasing Population (6:41/HD) look at the locations and cast, respectively. Finally, you get a Commentary with Director/Producer/Co-Writer Seth MacFarlane, Co-Writers and Executive Producers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, and Star Charlize Theron that plays over the Extended Cut. This is conversational and funny at times.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I am not totally sold on Seth MacFarlane as a theatrical director. His first feature, Ted, is imperfect but funny. The follow-up, A Million Ways to Die in the West, struggles to translate the director's "Family Guy" humor to the big screen. The film meanders and tries way too hard to get a laugh. A few jokes hit the mark; many more do not. Rent It.

William lives in Burlington, North Carolina, and looks forward to a Friday-afternoon matinee.