“From the moment I slapped eyes on this hombre I smelled trouble and refried beans.”
Outlaws, gamblers, cowboy hats, leather boots, revolvers, Native Americans, Southern belles, settlers, Mexican standoffs, saloons, fillies, beer, dirty clothes—these mark the Western, visually speaking. My wife generally dislikes the genre, but I wish I had encouraged her to watch Maverick with me, because she would have loved it, even though it features all of those things she thinks she dislikes. Instead of an inscrutable Clint Eastwood in a poncho brandishing a cigarillo—a sight that would surely see her turn heel—the film is led by Mel Gibson at the height of his powers, working under the direction of Richard Donner for the fourth time (see the first three Lethal Weapon films), a pairing that never produced anything less than dependable action-comedy. With Maverick, Donner achieves the kind of pure fun that summer blockbusters should strive to be—unpretentious, unsophisticated, unadulterated entertainment. It’s a rollicking good time as our titular hero takes a joyride through classic Western vistas and motifs with a contemporary sheen, reverently poking fun at established tropes with a wink and a nod.
The story follows quick-handed cardsharp Bret Maverick (Gibson), mysterious con artist Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster), and lawman Zane Cooper (James Garner, who starred as Maverick in the 1950s television show). The trio of strangers meet each other in Crystal River where Maverick and Annabelle match wits at the poker table before taking things to the bedroom. They’re all headed to a high-stakes poker game that’s to be held aboard a paddle steamboat. The entry fee is $25,000 and Maverick is several thousand shy of that number. As he and his two unlikely companions make their way through the Old West, trying to swindle their way to $25k, he frequently finds himself in sticky situations where his tongue, his gun, or his partners must get him out of it. Dogged by the villainous Angel (Alfred Molina), who we later learn has been hired to keep Maverick from reaching the game, he gradually claws his way to a full entry fee by conning bands of outlaws, a Russian Archduke (two different times), and even Cooper and Annabelle—although his conscience gets the better of him when he tries to take advantage of a caravan of missionary immigrant settlers.
The steady pulse of Maverick is the chemistry between cast members. Without the joyous tongue-in-cheek performances rubbing off on one another, many of the moments that are played for humor could fall flat. But this very talented group are undeniably enjoying themselves and their serious commitment to the less-than-serious roles is infectious. Foster and Gibson’s camaraderie is the film’s center of gravity. Their characters never fully trust each other but come crashing together like magnets at every chance. Gibson’s comedic timing is exemplary and Foster speaks with a fake accent so excessive that Maverick calls it out as overdone in the film. As the original Maverick, James Garner’s presence could have easily been a mere extended cameo just for the sake of his inclusion. But he’s given quite a few moments to shine and by the time we’re through the succession of false endings his role becomes much more important than you’d expect—hint: there’s a lot of short cons going on, but there’s one long con that we are not privy to until the final scene of the film.
At every chance we’re treated to comic episodes that always threaten to derail the momentum but instead uniformly build it up. It’s remarkable how confidently Donner swings from action and drama to comedy and back again without a hitch. One of my favorite moments occurs when an Indian tribe in paint and war attire approaches the missionary caravan. Maverick, who speaks their dialect and knows their leader, Joseph (Graham Greene), converses with the Indians while relaying an entirely different message to his companions. Later, after Maverick had already pretended to be a sick Indian that a sporting Russian (Paul L. Smith) paid to hunt down and kill, he poses as a Bureau of Indian Affairs agent investigating the shooting of Indians as sport. He accepts a $6000 bribe from the Archduke that covers the remainder of his and Annabelle’s entry fees for the poker game.
These long form jokes are great, but it is the dialogue that really shines here. The script is top notch in this regard and Gibson and co. are all game to deliver their lines with gusto. There’s also a streak of self-deprecating black humor as regards the encroachment of Amercians on Native land. Another of my favorite moments is when Maverick bluffs his way through a confrontation with a band of thieves. He tries to convince the outlaws that he has his own posse of sharpshooters waiting in the shadows with weapons trained on them; but he can’t help himself from taking digs at his companions even in the face of danger.
The man who’ll blow your brains out is Marshal Zane Cooper. You’ve probably heard of him. I know what you’re thinking—he’s old and decrepit, gums his food and his women, but he can still shoot straight. After him is ugly Annie Bransford. When she was born, she came out backwards and no one noticed. Hell, when she was little, her parents had to tie a pork chop around her neck so the dog would play with her. When she’s making love, she has to pretend she’s someone else!
Another element that makes Maverick enjoyable is its pervasive use of reference and cameo. William Goldman pillages his own Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with abandon and every tight spot is a scenario that we’ve seen play out a hundred times or more. A number of cast members appear briefly that have worked with one or another of the principal players here—there’s a fantastic moment when Danny Glover and Mel Gibson (co-stars of the Lethal Weapon franchise) come face to face during a robbery, both shaking their heads in confusion as if to jog a lost memory of their previous acquaintance. Lethal Weapon music plays and, as he leaves, Glover says Murtaugh’s famous catchphrase. Margot Kidder (Lois Lane in Superman) plays one of the missionaries. Other cameos include Waylon Jennings, Reba McEntire, and Denver Pyle, among many others. In a role with more substance than a cameo, James Coburn takes a turn as the Commodore hosting the poker game with the half million dollar pot.
It’s a simple formula if you break it down. Just assemble a great cast that enjoys working together, choreograph solid action set pieces, and write jokes that are actually funny. Send up the genre you are working within, even to the point of outright parody, but keep it respectful enough that aging character actors will sign up for a role with a single line. Keep the pace breezy and light. Don’t dumb it down but don’t require deep thought from your audience. The main takeaway from the film is that the viewer had fun. That’s Maverick in a nutshell. Perfect lightweight cinema.