You Poker, You Brought 'Er

Recognizing that I'd liked or shown interest in a few movies involving poker, the NetFlix gnomes suggested that I might want to check out Maverick. (The 1994 film adaptation of a TV series I'm aware of, but have also never seen.) Sure, why not? I heard it was fun.

It is that. It would be a bit of a stretch to call this movie a Western, because it's ultimately an all-out comedy that just has a particular time and place for its setting. It doesn't have any deep message to convey or emotions to conjure, it's just about having a good time.

On that level, it mostly works. This is pretty much thanks to the cast, which seems to be having genuine fun being in this movie. Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner are all entertaining and amusing. Alfred Molina makes a fun over-the-top villain, and James Coburn effectively chews the scenery in his smaller, final act role. It's all cheerful enough to almost make me overlook how bad the actual poker is throughout the film (both strategically and procedurally).

But I couldn't overlook how the plot begins to run out of steam before the finish line. As this is a 15-year old movie, it's probably fair game for me to say that they try to run some plot twists in the final half hour. Good guys turned out to be bad guys... then good guys again! Mostly, these reveals are shocking only in that the writer (the perennial William Goldman) has the guts to actually try to pull off all these double-crosses when most of them don't make any sense. The movie feels like it has three or four endings, and each one is a little less satisfying than the last.

It ultimately left me wishing the film had demonstrated appreciation for the cardinal rule of gambling -- quit while you're ahead. By the final credits, the fun little confection had eroded down to a B- for me. It's still enjoyable enough, but not the sort of movie that'll stay with you for too long afterward.