Maverick

Overview

This witty Western follows the exploits of con man, gunfighter, lover and card sharp Brett Maverick. The film stays true to the droll spirit of the television show (1957-1962) on which it is based. Included in the cast is the original con man, gunfighter, and card sharp "Maverick," James Garner, who plays a sheriff. Mel Gibson plays the title role. The story begins as the dapper Maverick sits upon his horse. A noose is around his handsome neck and with hint of satire explains in voice over that this has been a rotten week. The story leading up to his predicament is the basis for the movie. It all began when he needed to come up with enough cash to enter a major poker tournament upon the steamboat Lauren Belle. He finds a card game in a small town. At the table are Annabelle Bransford, and Angel, one bad dude. Using his standard con of playing the chuckle-headed coward, Maverick enters the game and walks away with the pot, Annabelle's heart, and Angel's rage. Demure Annabelle immediately tries to seduce Maverick out of his gain, but he is not easily fooled. Together they take a stage to the big game, and encounter Marshal Zane Cooper. The threesome are subjected to the usual movie trials of stagecoach rides.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/08/2009
UPC:	0883929084739
Original Release:	1994
Rating:	PG
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Full Frame, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:01:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Mel Gibson	Bret Maverick,Riverboat Poker Player
Jodie Foster	Annabelle Bransford
Alfred Molina	Angel
James Garner	Marshal Zane Cooper,Porter
Graham Greene	Joseph
Dub Taylor	Room Clerk
James Coburn	Commodore
Geoffrey Lewis	Matthew Wicker
Paul L. Smith	The Archduke,Riverboat Poker Player,Actor
Dan Hedaya	Twitchy
Dennis Fimple	Stuttering
Denver Pyle	Old Gambler
Clint Black	Beauregard
Max Perlich	Johnny Hardin
Art LaFleur	Poker Player
Leo V. Gordon	Poker Player,Actor
Will Hutchins	Actor
Paul Tuerpe	Poker Player
Jean De Baer	Margaret Mary
Paul Brinegar	Stage Driver
Hal Ketchum	Bank Robber
Corey Feldman	Bank Robber
Linda Hunt	Actor
Clint Walker	Actor
Danny Glover	Bank Robber
John Woodward	Bank Robber,Bank Robber
Jesse Eric Carroll	Stable Boy
Toshonnie Touchin	Stable Boy
John Meier	Unshaven Man
Steve Chambers	Unshaven Man
Doc Duhame	Unshaven Man
Frank Orsatti	Unshaven Man
Lauren Shuler-Donner	Bathhouse Maid
Courtney Barilla	Music Box Girl
Kimberly Cullum	Music Box Girl
Gary Richard Frank	Crooked Dealer
Read Morgan	Dealer
Steve Kahan	Dealer
Stephen Liska	Dealer
Robert Jones	Bank Employee
John Mills Goodloe	Telegraph Operator,Telegraph Operator
Vilmos Zsigmond	Albert Bierstadt
Waylon Jennings	Man with Concealed Gun
Kathy Mattea	Woman with Concealed Gun
Carlene Carter	Waitress
Vince Gill	Spectator,Spectator
Chuck Hart	Riverboat Poker Player
Doug McClure	Riverboat Poker Player
Henry Darrow	Riverboat Poker Player
Michael Paul Chan	Riverboat Poker Player
Margot Kidder	Mary Margaret
Richard Blum	Riverboat Poker Player
Bert Remsen	Riverboat Poker Player
Robert Fuller	Riverboat Poker Player
Noah Emmerich	Actor
William Marshall	Riverboat Poker Player
Bill Handerson	Riverboat Poker Player
Cal Bartlett	Riverboat Poker Player
Marion Dougherty	Actor
Randy Newman	Composer

Technical Credits

William Goldman

Richard Donner	Director,Producer
William Goldman	Screenwriter
Bruce Davey	Producer
Marion Dougherty	Casting
Steve Price	Special Effects
Mic Rodgers	Stunts
Matt Sweeney	Special Effects
Jim Van Wyck	Producer
Alia Agha	Special Effects
Rick Alexander	Sound Effects
Bub Asman	Sound Effects
William C. Carruth	Sound Effects
Virginia Cook-McGowan	Sound Effects
Samuel C. Crutcher	Sound Effects
Ty Boyce	Special Effects
Jack Carpenter	Stunts
Bob Stoker Jr.	Special Effects
Clark King	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Mel Gibson transplants his winking, nothing-can-go-wrong attitude from the Lethal Weapon movies to this high-energy, tongue-in-cheek update of the classic Western TV series, co-starring James Garner and Jodie Foster. After three previous collaborations, Gibson and Richard Donner are so familiar with one another that Maverick feels effortless, even during its big production numbers and smartly choreographed chase sequences. This is both an endearing quality and a fault of the film. Everyone is having such a good time, and the tone is so light, that even when Gibson is tied up on horseback with a noose around his neck, about to be lynched, he seems to know the situation will have a humorous outcome. The result is a film utterly satisfied with existing as big-budget escapism, whose empty core is beside the point. Beyond Gibson at his most glib and charming, Maverick finds Garner in winning form, serving as the link to the old series, and Foster indulging in surprisingly commercial fare by her standards, to good effect. This cartoon world of gunslingers, whose wit is as quick as their draw, culminates in a grand riverboat poker game, full of double, triple, and quadruple crosses. It's nothing more than a pre-packaged popcorn flick, but it's a reasonably fun one. Maverick was screenwriter William Goldman's first return to the Old West after Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.