Maverick (1994) - 6/10

I've talked before about my lack of time spent watching westerns. It's no surprise then, that my lack of familiarity extends into the even deeper niche of western comedies. Also, to say that I have never heard of Maverick prior to this, really means that I am twice as ignorant considering this was a film adaptation of the 1957 TV show of the same name. Regardless, I was excited to see what the film had in store and we can jump into the rubric to see how it all shook out.  

1. Acting 

The film stars and mostly revolves around Mel Gibson as Bret Maverick. Maverick is a fast-talking and fast-thinking con man on his way to a high stakes poker game with a potential pot of $500,000. Gibson's task then is to make Maverick a likable underdog that uses his wits, charms and a touch of stupidity in order to secure his ultimate prize. For his part, Gibson is pretty successful. Maverick is smarmy and charismatic figure and stays just (barely) on the right side of annoying at times. 

Gibson's romantic foil, Mrs. Annabelle Bransford, is played by Jodie Foster in an against-type role. At this point in her ridiculously long career (which started at the age of 3), Foster was mostly known as a dramatic actor. In fact, this film was not far removed from her two recent Oscar wins for The Accused (1988) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Nevertheless, Foster proves she has an expansive range. Annabelle is cut from the same con artist cloth as Maverick, and her wits and charms are readily apparent thanks to Foster's skill. However, this is not Foster's best performance and she seems a bit out of her depth sometimes as the often over-the-top Mrs. Bransford. 

The final part of the main trio is played by James Garner in a sort of dual role. Garner plays marshal Zane Cooper and appears on the surface to be a sort of 'straight-man' to Gibson's more rambunctious character. However, this is also a very intentional casting decision by the filmmakers. In the original TV show Garner was the actor chosen to be Bret Maverick. On the surface the move seems to be a bit of fan service and nod to the original, but in reality Garner is just returning to his original role with Gibson playing his son, Bret Maverick Jr. To appreciate the twist requires a bit of the backstory, but it still works not knowing anything about the original. 

The rest of the supporting cast does a good job of providing a better balance to the proceedings. Maverick's antics can be a bit much at times, and surrounding him with some more serious character actors like Alfred Molina, Graham Greene, and James Coburn help smooth things out a bit. 

2. Cinematography

The shooting style of Maverick is fairly straightforward but benefits from the classic and beautiful landscapes that serve as the 'old west'. There is also something so great about lighting scenes using campfire and oil lamps that just looks wonderful and warm - and matches the comedic tone of the film.  

3. Production/Costume Design 

One of the film's greatest strengths is its production design. The costumes, props and settings all look period-appropriate and painstakingly crafted. Everything from the stagecoaches, to the guns, to the costumes and more, look authentic and sell the world. The final act also benefits from the use of a real paddle steamer boat which they named the Lauren Belle. It serves not only as a great setting for the poker tournament, but really sells the time period and aesthetics. Unsurprisingly, the attention to detail and care earned the crew an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design. 

4. Writing 

I'll start by just saying that Maverick is a fun and lighthearted romp that manages to blend the western and comedy genres very well. It's built as an easy crowd-pleaser and I was entertained throughout. If you feel like there is a 'but' coming, then you are right. There is something that just bugs me about the film and I can't fully put my finger on it. The characters are charming and the plot is simplistic yet engaging. So, why the hate?  

I think one of the problems lies with the main character. Maverick is a charming and smart con-man and watching his antics is entertaining. However, his character never really evolves throughout the movie. He never learns a lesson, and any difficulties that he faces are overcome in short order within a scene or two. Things just kind of fall in his lap and its make the plot seem either highly convenient or  just uninteresting. I don't think every single movie needs to have the characters go on deep spiritual journeys, but if they just end up in the same place that they started in, then what was the point? 

As for the plot, it can be highly repetitive. Maverick is mostly just moving from one locale to the next while engaging in a series of cons. And every time he does so, he comes out on top somehow. Also, as an audience member you quickly start realizing that everything that takes place will be followed by some sort of con. Every single plot point gets undermined again and again. The end result is the audience starts to distrust everything that takes place throughout the film. Sometimes this works, other times it doesn't.

I really enjoyed the first time we see Maverick pull a series of cons in the movies early poker scene at a saloon. Maverick charms and obfuscates and then blatantly pulls a fast one by paying people to lose in a fight to him to escape trouble. It shows how clever Maverick is and sets up the rest of the film. But, then that same thing happens multiple times and characters just find new ways to keep pulling 'fast ones' on each other. This in incredibly true in the last 15 minutes of the movie which seems to have some sort of double cross or twist every minute until the credits roll. It's a bit similar to watching an endless volley of a tennis game - compelling at first, but slowly turns into something that feels too indulgent, excessive, or boring. 

As for the comedy bits, the film is well constructed to allow for various humorous moments and has some pretty good lines as well. The 'help' scene in particular is a great bit of writing. It starts with Maverick saving the group from a runaway stagecoach that ends with him hanging from a cliff. His near brush with death causes him to launch into a rant where he berates his counterparts for their lack of help. He goes as far to tell them to never help him again under any circumstance. Maverick, still hanging from the cliff, suddenly begins slipping. His feeble and angry pleas for help and Cooper's teasing reluctance to help is great situational comedy that was very well executed by the actors. I'm also not the biggest fan of random cameos in movies, but Gibson's character getting robbed by Danny Glover (his partner from the then very famous Lethal Weapon movies) and the two having a moment of cheeky recognition is fun fan service despite its fourth wall breaking. 

However, for all the good the script does, some of the moments I found the funniest were apparently improvs or gaffs that occurred while filming. For instance, there is a scene where Maverick looks like he is about to help Annabelle get down from a stagecoach. Instead of grabbing her hand, he grabs the parasol she is holding and she is forced to jump down on her own. She then falls to the ground and Maverick turns around to seemingly go help her up. Instead he just give her parasol back and walks away. It comes at a very contentious time for the two characters and feels perfectly fitting and very funny. The problem being, that was actually a mistake and Foster wasn't supposed to fall. The two characters reactions were so good that the filmmakers had no choice but to put it in the final cut. Later on, there is another mistake involving Garner who is addressing the crowd at the start of the poker game. His speech is supposed to be intimidating and culminates with him showing off that he is the only one on the boat that has been allowed to keep his guns. He then prominently displays the guns to the crowd. When he moves to stick the guns back in the holsters, he drops one and the crowd breaks out in laughter. Garner, smartly stays in character and motions with his hand for someone to hand him back the gun while he continues to stare down the audience. Yet again, this wasn't part of the script. But the moment was too perfect to cut. Point being, the movies most authentic and funnier moments weren't actually part of the script. But, kudos to the filmmakers to embrace the happy accidents and keep them in the final cut. 

 

One final thing before I move on. I love poker, but I recognize that not everyone in an audience either knows how to play, or hasn't played enough to find a simple series of hands compelling. Hollywood has a habit of making the final hand of a poker game extremely ridiculous for dramatic effect, but I find it too outlandish and it breaks immersion. The odds of a three-way showdown that has a 4 of a kind, a straight flush, and a royal flush all at the same time is so fucking low that its practically impossible. I'm not smart enough to do the math, but will take a few estimates at their word of it being in the 1-in-3 trillion range (not factoring in the cheating of course). Even if we just take Maverick's royal flush at face value - that's a .000154% chance. 

5. Sound Design 

Nothing in the soundtrack grabbed my ear, but the film does pay tribute to Country music and includes various cameos from famous Country artists. The soundtrack also peaked at #4 on the Billboard Country Album charts, so maybe it just wasn't for me. 

6. Editing 

The final cut clocks in at just north of two hours. It keeps a nice pace throughout the runtime, but the repetitive nature of the screenplay does make the edit feel a bit meandering at times. The epilogue also suffers from this trend and I was almost begging for the credits to roll by the end. 

7. Visual Effects 

Most of the effects here are being done practically and are executed well. There's not a ton of gun-slinging in the movie, but the few moments that do feel fitting for the genre.  

8. Originality or Strength of Adaptation 

Like I said earlier, I'm not particularly well-versed in western comedies, nor am I familiar with the original TV show beyond 'it existed'. But from what I can tell, the film is able to tap into the silly and fun nature of the TV show while updating it for a more modern audience. 

9. Stunt Coordination 

There are a few fight scenes and quick shootouts, but the most noteworthy scene by far was the run-away stagecoach scene. Not only does the scene have a lot of fun and humorous character moments between the three main leads, but is features a fairly intense series of stunts where Gibson's character crawls, climbs and leaps around the stagecoach with six horses pulling it. It may be buried within a comedy film, but this was great action direction and some pretty gnarly risk taking on the part of the stunt team that pulled it off.  

10. Direction 

 Richard Donner may not have as big of a name as some of his contemporaries from that era, but I guarantee you've seen or at least heard of many of his films. Much like the work he had done previously with Gibson in the Lethal Weapon series, Maverick is fun blend of action and humor that is entertaining to watch. 

Legacy/Final Thoughts

While I personally had not heard about Maverick prior to this, it had a very solid theatrical run at its release and amassed a $183 million box office return. I imagine then, that its impact just wasn't big enough to garner a longer lasting relevancy. Instead, it mostly sits in the shadow of other action comedies of the era such as its cousin Lethal Weapon or its western counterparts like Blazing Saddles.