The film was adapted by the 1950s TV series starring James Garner, who played a happy gambler who liked to charm and con people than shoot them, however he was able to handle a gun when that looked like he had no other choice. Garner is casted in the film version, playing a marshal named Zane Cooper, and Bret Maverick is played by Mel Gibson.
Ebert noted, “It is a tribute to Gibson, I think, that he can play scenes side by side with the man who originated the character, and produce much the same effect, as a smiling card shark who hopes to win money by playing poker and not get shot in the process.” With the sideburns and their easy smiles, the two men looked like they were related. Their co-star is Jodie Foster, playing a beautiful poker player named Annabelle Bransford. Ebert mentioned, “I imagine there were few professional poker players in the old west, and fewer still who looked like Foster, but "Maverick" is clearly not striving for grim realism.”
As the movie starts, Maverick is desperately trying to win another $5,000 to finance his entry in a series of poker, to be held in St. Louis. This is difficult because he finds himself in games with players like Angel (Alfried Molina), who likes to shoot people who win money from him, Chief Joseph (Graham Greene), a Native American with a future in public relations, and the Commodore (James Coburn), who has been conning people longer, and better, than Maverick can imagine.
Ebert noted, “The screenplay is by William Goldman, who wrote "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" for Paul Newman and Robert Redford, but its spirit owes more to the next Newman and Redford collaboration, "The Sting." As one deception follows another, we catch on that nothing is as it seems, that the plot will unpeel layers like an onion, that revelations are made only to be unmasked.” This is enjoyable, but at 129 minutes the movie might be a little too long.
One of the enjoyments of the film is watching the actors used by director Richard Donner to be in the background. There are uncredited celebrity cameos by actors of his previous movies, including Danny Glover and Margot Kidder. Fans of Westerns will also like the appearance of such famous Western actors like Denver Pyle, Dub Taylor and Bert Remsen.
One difference between “Maverick” and a vintage Western comedy is that the stunts and some of the gunfights are done more richly. Ebert admitted, “There's a runaway stagecoach scene, with Gibson being dragged behind the coach and then pulling his way up to the front and controlling the team, that's as well done as anything I've seen in that line. And a fastdraw competition with a cocky young gunfighter generates the kind of suspense similar scenes had in "Tombstone."” Is there an audience for the movie? Do people remember “Maverick” on TV well enough to care about the movie? Who knows?
The movie doesn’t require you to have ever seen an episode of “Maverick” to enjoy this story. However, there’s a twist at the end you’ll like more if you were a fan of the show.
I will admit that I have never heard or seen “Maverick” on TV, since I think it was before my time. However, you don’t need to watch the show in order to understand or like the movie. Check it out if you’re a fan of Westerns and comedies because I think you will enjoy this film a lot. You will find it very funny that you will laugh a lot while watching. I know I did.
Look out next week when I look at an emotional Western that I don’t think I can watch after one time in “Westerns Month.”
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