Bret Maverick, needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief.Bret Maverick, needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief.Bret Maverick, needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 2 nominations total
- Poker Player
- (as Art La Fleur)
- Poker Player
- (as Leo V. Gordon)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
This "western" is really a lot more of a comedy, but so was the TV show on which it was based. In the movie, we get some really neat twists at the end, too. Kudos also for including TV's original "Maverick" - James Garner - in this film.
Mel Gibson (the "new" Maverick) and Jodie Foster play off each other well in the leads and Graham Greene has some very funny lines as a supporting player. Alfred Molina, James Coburn, Geoffrey Lewis also shine in supporting performances and it is really fun to see all the cameo appearances in here. Included in there were a couple of old-time western movie stars along with country-western singers, all at a big card game at the end.
Another plus are the two songs during the ending credits. There is rousing C&W rendition of "Amazing Grace" followed by a good Randy Newman song called "Ride Gambler Ride." They are worth sticking around and hearing.
One negative about this film: the message seems to be that cheating, lying and just being a dishonorable person if okay if you can get away with it!! (Only in Hollywood!)
Mel Gibson can actually manage to be tolerable when he's playing charming, which he does here. James Garner is perfectly cast for quite obvious reasons. And it's nice to see Jodie Foster lighten up and play a feminine character for once -- up to that point, her resume had been quite serious.
For some strange reason, I distinctly remember Siskel and Ebert being infuriated that this film won an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design. Ah, to live such a charmed life that something like that constitutes a major gripe.....
Grade: B
Not perfect, but very close. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Other roles are filled capably; the biggest surprise for me was Jodie Foster, whom I normally dislike on screen. She is very impressive in a rare comedic role, and thankfully discards her repetoire of facial tics for a much more natural performance here. The plot is kept pretty simple until near the end -- and the end has a great twist, which I won't divulge. Suffice it to say that your time will be well spent, and you'll want to revisit Maverick country more than once.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaNear the movie's beginning, Maverick asks the young man wearing the bowler hat at the poker table, who claims to be a gunfighter, what his name is. He answers, "Johnny Hardin," and Maverick fumbles his chips pretending to be scared, but then clowns around pointing his own gun at the youth. The real John Wesley Hardin was a notoriously fast, volatile and deadly gunfighter of the Old West, who shot and killed more than 40 men, before being shot in the back of the head in 1895.
- GoofsAnnabelle gives her dealer a $1000 chip in the poker tournament before the final table. This is common in cash games in which money is won after each hand. Unlike cash games however, tournament chips have no money value and cannot be exchanged for cash.
That scene was played for laughs.
- Quotes
Maverick: [talking to the village thieves] 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.
Maverick: After you 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!
- Alternate versionsThe Blu-ray release plasters the opening 1992 Warner Bros. opening logo with the 2003 variant.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Troldspejlet: Episode #10.11 (1994)
- SoundtracksRide Gambler Ride
Written and Performed by Randy Newman
[this is the film's theme song but only plays over end credits]
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Tay Chơi Siêu Hạng
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $75,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $101,631,272
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $17,248,545
- May 22, 1994
- Gross worldwide
- $183,031,272
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