Maverick (1994)

IMDb plot summary: Bret Maverick, needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief.

Directed by Richard Donner. Starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner, and Graham Greene.

This feels most in the vein of a heist movie, where everyone is out to get everyone else all the time but it's somehow fun and playful. This movie has a lot going for it but has aged badly in one aspect: it's tougher to buy Mel Gibson now as a likable rogue now that we know his unpleasantness as a person. That's not always a disqualifier, but this movie ABSOLUTELY relies on us buying into Gibson's charm, hook, line, and sinker, and as a result it loses a lot of its luster if that can't happen. The script is a lot of fun, though. I didn't expect it to be as overtly comedic as it was -- there's one bizarre moment of breaking the fourth wall to make a Lethal Weapon joke. Some of the jokes land better than other, and all would land better if I felt Gibson's charm, but there's enough enthusiasm for the jokes to sell me on their effort overall. Not stellar, not without its problems, but still a medium-enjoyable popcorn movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Maverick < One, Two, Three

Maverick > Horton Hears a Who

Maverick > The Hurt Locker

Maverick > Hellfighters

Maverick > Gran Torino

Maverick > The Savages

Maverick > Twisted Nerve

Maverick < Wreck-It Ralph

Maverick < The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini

Maverick < The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe (1988)

Maverick > Smokin' Aces

Maverick < The Librarian: Quest for the Spear

Final spot: #1679 out of 3312, or 49%.