A Million Ways to Die in the West is a comedy written and directed by Seth MacFarlane. It is set to premiere May 30, 2014.
Synopsis[]
Seth MacFarlane directs, produces, co-writes and plays the role of the cowardly sheep farmer Albert in A Million Ways to Die in the West.
After Albert backs out of a gunfight, his fickle girlfriend leaves him for another man. When a mysterious and beautiful woman rides into town, she helps him find his courage and they begin to fall in love. But when her husband, a notorious outlaw, arrives seeking revenge, the farmer must put his newfound courage to the test.
Starring alongside MacFarlane are Oscar winner Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman and Neil Patrick Harris. MacFarlane reunites many of the filmmakers behind Universal and MRC’s hit film Ted including Scott Stuber (Bluegrass Films) and Jason Clark who produce, and Wellesley Wild and Alec Sulkin who co-wrote the script.
Plot[]
In 1882, in the town of Old Stump, Arizona, timid sheep farmer Albert Stark's girlfriend Louise breaks up with him because of his refusal to defend himself in a duel. He prepares to migrate to San Francisco, believing that the frontier offers nothing for him. Meanwhile, infamous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood shoots and kills an old prospector over a single gold nugget. He orders his right-hand man, Lewis, to escort his wife Anna to Old Stump while he continues his banditry.
Lewis and Anna arrive in Old Stump under the guise of two siblings intending to build a farm, but Lewis is arrested after shooting the pastor's son in a saloon fight. During the brawl, Albert saves Anna from being crushed to death, and the two become close friends. They attend a county fair where Louise's new boyfriend, the arrogant Foy, challenges Albert to a shooting contest. Albert loses, but Anna steps in and defeats Foy. Foy publicly humiliates Albert, who impulsively challenges Foy to a duel in a week's time to win back Louise. Anna then spends the week teaching Albert how to shoot.
During a barn dance the night before the duel, Anna gives Foy a Mickey. After leaving the dance, Albert and Anna kiss before heading home. After breaking out of jail and murdering the sheriff, Lewis observes the kiss and reports it to Clinch. On the day of the duel, Foy arrives late and gets diarrhea from the laxativehe had unknowingly drunk. Albert, who has decided that Louise is not worth fighting for, forfeits anyway. He retires to the saloon, but Clinch arrives and reveals that Anna is his wife, threatening to kill more people unless his wife's lover duels him the next day. Later, Clinch confronts Anna by demanding that she reveal Albert's name and his whereabouts, or he will kill her. Before he attempts to rape her, she knocks him unconscious with a rock and escapes.
Anna returns to Albert's farm to warn him about Clinch, but he chastises her for lying to him. Anna says she cares about Albert and didn't want him to get hurt. When questioning why she married Clinch, she says that she was only 9 and din't want to wind up a spinster. She also claims that she has had it with her husband and tells Albert she only loves him and Albert secretly feels the same. Clinch, having regained consciousness, tracks down Anna to the farm, but Albert helps her escape, then escapes himself. While fleeing, he is captured by a tribe of Apache Indians, who threaten to burn him alive. The Apaches spare him when he reveals that he can speak their language. They give him a bowl of peyote, which sends him flashing back to his birth and through painful events of his childhood before a vision of Anna makes him realize he loves her.
Meanwhile, Clinch recaptures Anna in town, but Albert returns to Old Stump and confronts him. He wounds Clinch with a bullet dipped in rattlesnake venom before his own gun is shot out of his hand but manages to stall until Clinch dies from the poison. With Clinch dead Anna runs to Albert and Clinch's men are arested. Louise attempts to win back Albert, but he rejects her and instead happily enters into a relationship with Anna. Albert also receives a bounty for killing Clinch and uses the money to buy more sheep. The film ends with Anna and Albert living together on the farm.
In the post-credits scene, Django Freeman comes up to challenge the offensive "Runaway Slave" game at the town fair's shooting gallery, but instead shoots the owner.
Cast[]
- Seth Macfarlane as Albert
- Charlize Theron as Anna
- Amanda Seyfried as Louise
- Liam Neeson as Clinch
- Giovanni Ribisi as Edward
- Neil Patrick Harris as Foy
- Sarah Silverman as Ruth
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