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Maverick

Maverick (1994)

May. 20,1994
|
7
|
PG
| Adventure Drama Action Comedy

Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional three thousand dollars in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game that begins in a few days, so he joins forces with a woman gambler with a marvellous southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.

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Reviews

Paul Pardi
1994/05/20

This is a family favorite that I watched again with my girls. Mel Gibson was at his best during the 90s and is thoroughly enjoyable in this tongue-in-cheek, nothing-is-what-it-seems adventure. Jodie Foster as the pseudo Southern belle and James Garner reprising his TV role complement Gibson perfectly. The movie is presented in three acts. Act 1 sets up Gibson as the playful conman trying to earn just a bit more money to enter the "poker match of the century." Act 2 introduces Garner as Gibson's apparent foil trying both to earn the respect of Mrs. Bransford and, we gather, to keep an eye on Maverick. Act 3 is the poker match where everyone shows their true colors.Tons of fun and a great diversion. Eight of ten stars for the pure entertainment value.

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Matt James
1994/05/21

Maybe it wasn't really like this in the Old West but this film does fill me with the hope that at least sometimes it had these moments. This film is pure entertainment, not a historical documentary and certainly not, at any point, to be taken seriously. Maverick's (Mel Gibson's) character as a likable rogue had a surreal and very believable chemistry with Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster) and a pleasant nod to the "original" maverick that old standby, James Garner.The humour is firmly tongue-in-cheek and Foster does indeed "do southern" very acceptably and looks as radiant as any woman in the role could. Her unique brand of energy, injured innocence, scheming minxicity (I made that up) and twangy edginess give the part a solid and definitive profile. No man of Maverick's marque (or any other for that matter) could resist chasing a temptress of such charm, beauty and duplicity through a hundred countries to get his money back and would indeed have a wonderful time doing it.I'm not a Mel Gibson fan but this exceptional part was cast against type and Mel performed very well. As I said, the chemistry between Mel and Jodie is tangible, perhaps because they're close friends off-screen as well.Garner is solid, if a little pedestrian (don't mistake it for gravitas Mr. G), but since he's already got his (metaphorical) halo it's hard to find fault with him and particularly for his acceptably human (if feigned) reluctance to join a firefight with a bunch of drunken outlaws. Joseph (Graham Greene) is outstanding as is Angel (fellow countryman Alfred Molina who has proved himself many times since) as the kind of necessary semi-villain/rogue types that help show Maverick, no angel himself, in a slightly less predatory light.This film pretends to be nothing but what it is and that stands to its eternal credit. There's no doubt, given the cast performances, that this film was a hoot to make. Such films are vital to lighten our moods from the sombre turns they can take sometimes by reminding us that probably it was much worse in the past, and for exactly that reason, it might also have been quite a bit better.

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Guy
1994/05/22

Plot: A card player in the Old West tries to win a cards tournament worth $250,000 but finds that someone is out to stop him.MAVERICK is a big screen adaptation of the old TV show about a gifted card player (and crook) in the Wild West. After learning about the tournament Maverick has to raise the $25,000 entrance fee, which is what he spends most of the movie doing. He finds himself chased by villains, hunted as human prey by a mad Russian noble and alternately assisted and hindered by a female grifter and a leathery old lawman. He also meets a bunch of post-modern Indians but the jokes are pretty thin and it only serves to pad the movie out far beyond what it ought to have been. The leads are good, the script fun and the direction competent yet the film never quite suckers you in. There are enough fights (OK), plot twists (a goodie at the end) and jokes to keep you going but it doesn't lift off and a good half-hour ought to have been left on the cutting room floor.

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Aaron1375
1994/05/23

This movie was a rather good western movie, a genre that I am not the biggest fan of. Granted, in the case of this movie it is more of a comedy so that helps this one rise above the typical western movie in my eyes. So does the cast as you get Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and Alfred Molina as well as veteran actors James Garner (who played Maverick on the television show) and James Coburn. The story has Maverick in the middle of a rather unpleasant situation, you get to see what led to that as the movie unfolds to show you how he got there and then proceeds to show what happens afterward. Maverick is trying to raise the cash he needs to enter a huge poker tournament on a riverboat, but alas he is having a lot of difficulty. Not only does he have to deal with an over the line rival named Angel (Alfred Molina) he also has to worry about a nice gal that seems to have taken a liken to him, or the fact that she can dupe him at almost any turn. There are also thieves to contend with as Maverick gets tricked into lending a helping hand and mad crazed Indians as well. All this before he gets into the tournament where there are so many double crosses it gets rather funny. So yes, this one was really funny and it had its moments of action as well. It never, however, takes itself to seriously as the actors seem to really be having fun with their roles in this one.

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