"Maverick" is a comedy Western which relates the adventures of Bret Maverick, a gambler and adventurer in the Old West. (It is based, apparently, on a television series from the 1950s, but I am too young to remember it; indeed, I am not sure if it was ever shown in Britain). Maverick wants to enter a major poker tournament, but lacks the entry fee of $25,000. The film tells the story of how he manages to scrape together the required money and what happens to him during the tournament itself, as well as his dealings with three people he meets along the way- Marshal Zane Cooper, a lawman based upon Wyatt Earp, a rival poker player named Angel (ironically, as he is far from angelic) and a young thief and con-woman named Annabelle Bransford.
The film stars two actors, Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster, whom I would not normally have associated with comedy. Gibson had previously made the light action-adventure films "Bird on a Wire", and the "Lethal Weapon" films contain some elements of humour, but "Maverick" is the closest he had yet come to pure comedy. As for Jodie, while she had made some comedies such as "Bugsy Malone" in her teenage days, by 1994 she had become regarded as a rather serious, intense young actress. Her previous film before this one was "Sommersby", another costume drama set in the late nineteenth century, but much more serious.
Both, however, reveal their previously hidden comic talents here, which is just as well. Neither Maverick nor Annabelle is, morally speaking, a particularly admirable individual. He is a wisecracking adventurer who lives by his wits; his code of ethics as a professional gambler might prevent him from cheating at the poker table, but he is not always so scrupulous in other areas, of his life, although he is occasionally capable of a generous gesture. She makes a living out of stealing and swindling, normally from men who are attracted to her good looks. As neither is admirable, therefore, it was important to make them sympathetic, and both Gibson and Foster succeed in this. Gibson's Maverick comes across as a likable rogue and Foster makes Annabelle sexy and winning enough for us to overlook the fact that she is a scheming minx. Another good performance comes from James Garner as Cooper; in the sort of in-joke that modern casting directors love, Garner played Bret Maverick in the television series.
The film was directed by Richard Donner, who had earlier directed Gibson in three instalments of the "Lethal Weapon" franchise and was later to direct him in a fourth, as well as in "Conspiracy Theory". Donner is an experienced director of action films, and manages to make the film an entertaining mixture of humour and thrills, often combining the two in the same scene, such as the one where Maverick is desperately trying to stop a runaway stagecoach in which he, Annabelle and Cooper are travelling. Unlike some other films from this period starring Gibson (e.g. "The Man without a Face") or Foster (e.g. "Nell"), there is nothing very deep or serious about "Maverick". For all that, however, it makes entertaining viewing. 7/10
The film stars two actors, Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster, whom I would not normally have associated with comedy. Gibson had previously made the light action-adventure films "Bird on a Wire", and the "Lethal Weapon" films contain some elements of humour, but "Maverick" is the closest he had yet come to pure comedy. As for Jodie, while she had made some comedies such as "Bugsy Malone" in her teenage days, by 1994 she had become regarded as a rather serious, intense young actress. Her previous film before this one was "Sommersby", another costume drama set in the late nineteenth century, but much more serious.
Both, however, reveal their previously hidden comic talents here, which is just as well. Neither Maverick nor Annabelle is, morally speaking, a particularly admirable individual. He is a wisecracking adventurer who lives by his wits; his code of ethics as a professional gambler might prevent him from cheating at the poker table, but he is not always so scrupulous in other areas, of his life, although he is occasionally capable of a generous gesture. She makes a living out of stealing and swindling, normally from men who are attracted to her good looks. As neither is admirable, therefore, it was important to make them sympathetic, and both Gibson and Foster succeed in this. Gibson's Maverick comes across as a likable rogue and Foster makes Annabelle sexy and winning enough for us to overlook the fact that she is a scheming minx. Another good performance comes from James Garner as Cooper; in the sort of in-joke that modern casting directors love, Garner played Bret Maverick in the television series.
The film was directed by Richard Donner, who had earlier directed Gibson in three instalments of the "Lethal Weapon" franchise and was later to direct him in a fourth, as well as in "Conspiracy Theory". Donner is an experienced director of action films, and manages to make the film an entertaining mixture of humour and thrills, often combining the two in the same scene, such as the one where Maverick is desperately trying to stop a runaway stagecoach in which he, Annabelle and Cooper are travelling. Unlike some other films from this period starring Gibson (e.g. "The Man without a Face") or Foster (e.g. "Nell"), there is nothing very deep or serious about "Maverick". For all that, however, it makes entertaining viewing. 7/10