Maverick (1994)

Plan: Brett Maverick (Mel Gibson) plans to enter the "All Rivers poker" challenge, at a $25 000 buy-in. He visits old friends to collect debts in order to raise the necessary capital, and along the way he meets the irresistible Mrs. Bransford (Jodie Foster), crosses paths with Marshall Zane Cooper (James Garner), and makes an enemy of Angel (Alfred Molina) before he even gets on the riverboat.

Did you ever like a movie just because it was fun? It didn't have a particular message that resonated with you, it wasn't the best you've ever seen (not even close), it's wasn't that funny, that dramatic, or that moving. It's just plain old fun.

That's how I feel about Maverick. I'm pretty sure I first watched this movie because my mom's a big Gibson fan (or at least she was at the time). Just to make sure I wasn't remembering it with the waxy glow of childhood, I recently caught it again - and it's still a good catch.

Although, I must remark, Garner has aged a lot in the last ten years, while James Coburn appeared to age very little until his death in 2002. What a loss that was - he had such an affable, charming way about him that made his leading men all the more desirable and his villains all the more dastardly.

Alright, I'll come right out and say it: Richard Donner is not among my fav directors, and I generally find William Goldman's screenplays to contain over-the-top dialogue that makes my eyes roll. Here, though, it works. Part of the point is to poke fun at the show the movie is based on, another part still to poke fun at the actors, and everyone seems willing to take their turn with a grain of salt.

Gibson and Foster work splendidly together, but the scenes they share with Garner are truly priceless. It's great to watch the two of them, both old hands by the time this film came out, still learning from a master like Garner.

Plus you get the crafty Molina, Graham Greene, Geoffrey Lewis, Dan Hedaya, and Danny Glover in an amusing cameo along for the ride.

Basically speaking, it's all just good fun. Good fun is a good thing in a movie, my friends.