Fun & Games in the Wild West

Personally, I've never seen any episodes from the old tv series and I'm not real partial on Westerns, but "Maverick" is a very good movie. Director Richard Donner, his team of writers, and the acting talents of Mel Gibson and James Garner have all come together to make a very clever, and very funny film. Yes, Jodie Foster is another lead character, but I'm not crazy about her as an actress, so I focus less of the credit on her. At any rate, what we have here is another successful collaboration between Donner and Gibson, usually found working together on the "Lethal Weapon" film series.

The story:

Mel Gibson plays Bret Maverick, one of the best gunfighters and poker players in the Old West. He's on a journey to enter the All Rivers Poker Tournament which has a purse of $500,000 to the winner. The problem? There's an entry fee of $25,000 per person and Maverick's found himself a little short on funds. So as he makes his way to the poker tournament, he makes his way from friend to friend (or so he thinks) and place to place to call in money owed to him or to see how much he can win. Along the way he makes friends, such as pretty pickpocket Annabell Bransford (Jodie Foster), enemies, such as Angel (Alfred Molina), and acquaintences, such as Marshall Zane Cooper (James Garner)......all of whom are likewise on their way to take part in the big poker game. The thrust of the film deals with Maverick's problem in scraping up enough money to enter the big game, his overcoming attempts to prevent his reaching the game, and his flirtation with Ms. Bransford.

***My Take***

I think the best aspect of the film is that the humor is clever, witty, and actually funny. It's not the sort that relies overly on slapstick, gross-out (none at all), or juvenile humor. Another thing that makes it so good is that it's full of little twists and turns. Nothing is quite what it seems in the movie, so you have to pay close attention to details.

Gibson is his usual cocky, overly confident and witty self, much like his Riggs character from "Lethal Weapon". As I said earlier, I'm really not a Jodie Foster fan at all. I don't think much of her acting ability and don't find her much to look at either. As far as her character is concerned, though, it was well-written. She really was quite a character, a good match for the wily Maverick. James Garner, who incidentally played Maverick in the original TV series, did a good job as Marshall Cooper. He was definitely a good foil for Maverick to play off of and the twist concerning his character doesn't seem to come out of thin air when you observe how he acts throughout the course of the movie. There's also James Coburn as Commodore Duvall and Alfred Molina as Angel...these are the bad guys and both are funny and well-performed by each actor.

Also, pay attention to some of the unbilled cameos that are here in the film, some by actors from other Donner films and some by a few of country music's big stars or actors mainly seen in old western films. See how many you can spot.

All said and done, "Maverick" is quite an entertaining movie. There's action, humor, romance....all in the right amount to make up for the rather simplistic plot. I definitely recommend viewing or adding it to your movie collection. It's worth it.