RELEASED IN 1994 and directed by Richard Donner, "Maverick" stars Mel Gibson as the amicable titular gambler who meets up with a fetching scam-artist (Jodi Foster), an aged marshal (James Garner) and an ill-tempered outlaw (Alfred Molina) on his way to a poker tournament on a riverboat at the Columbia River Gorge. Who will win the tournament? James Coburn plays the dubious host on the riverboat while Graham Greene appears as a comical Native chief.
The tone is along the lines of comedy Westerns like "The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox" (1976), "Support Your Local Sheriff" (1969) and "Texas Across the River" (1966) so, if you like those Westerns, you'll probably appreciate this one ("Texas" is more campy though). The Western locations are to die for and Foster is striking. The camaraderie of the three main stars is entertaining. The sequence with Graham Greene in the second act stands out and is only surpassed by the riverboat sequence in the last act.
THE FILM RUNS 127 minutes and was shot in Arizona (Glen Canyon, Lake Powell, Mescal, Page, Lee's Ferry and Marble Canyon), Utah (Glen Canyon), California (Yosemite National Park, Lone Pine, El Mirage Dry Lake & Burbank studios) and Washington/Oregon (Columbia River Gorge & Beacon Rock). WRITER: William Goldman.
GRADE: B
The tone is along the lines of comedy Westerns like "The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox" (1976), "Support Your Local Sheriff" (1969) and "Texas Across the River" (1966) so, if you like those Westerns, you'll probably appreciate this one ("Texas" is more campy though). The Western locations are to die for and Foster is striking. The camaraderie of the three main stars is entertaining. The sequence with Graham Greene in the second act stands out and is only surpassed by the riverboat sequence in the last act.
THE FILM RUNS 127 minutes and was shot in Arizona (Glen Canyon, Lake Powell, Mescal, Page, Lee's Ferry and Marble Canyon), Utah (Glen Canyon), California (Yosemite National Park, Lone Pine, El Mirage Dry Lake & Burbank studios) and Washington/Oregon (Columbia River Gorge & Beacon Rock). WRITER: William Goldman.
GRADE: B