The Lazy Ace (1981)

Well, we’ve got a definite competitor to the 90s Maverick film in terms of the worst attempt at reviving the TV series. And that’s despite this one has Garner as Bret in it!

Nowhere near the original Maverick TV series

It’s pretty hard to list all the stuff that went wrong here… Because everything did. It’s aimless, pointless, dull, not funny and ridiculous. Whoever has written this one had no interest in and no understanding of the original TV series.

If the 90s film took the concept of Maverick, stripped it out of cleverness and made it super-primitive, with this one no one seems to have any idea of what they are doing.  Characters are uninteresting, including Bret himself, ’cause he lacks his trademark quick-wit and humour. He seems to be a bitter, aging man of no particular qualities.

Garner can still play the part, he tries every little chance he gets, but you have to pay attention, since he really doesn’t get many chances and mostly only to have an interesting facial expression for a second or two, since the dialogs are outrageously boring.

The only time a line of dialog sounds like something Bret could have said is when he is talking to an ex-sheriff, offering him a share in the saloon to run it for him, after the sheriff refused to accept the reward money for gunning down the criminals who robbed the bank:

Bret: […] You with your twisted set of values… you won’t accept the reward…

P.s. An elderly, useless and otherwise dislikable poker player seen in the beginning of the film, who is going to live his final days on charity money from Maverick, is no one else, but Doc Holliday himself. No kiddin’.

P.p.s. I haven’t seen the whole series, only the “Lazy Ace” TV film made out of the pilot.

Maverick (1994)

They’ve missed the point entirely.

Maverick 1994 – stunningly bad comparing to the original TV series

Mel Gibson could have fit the role of a Maverick, but, because of the script, he was spending most of the time running around like a headless chicken, which was supposed to be funny. It’s really not his fault his version of Maverick is so bad – the script is horrible.

Garner has nothing to do here too – script just doesn’t allow him. There is a second of “magic” happening when he first appears on the screen, but you would get more joy seeing him standing there quietly than you do from him saying the horrible lines.

The smart, neat humor of the original TV series is replaced with primitive physical jokes and miserable attempts at wit. Consistent mispronunciation of Bret’s name by Annabelle is supposed to be funny, not knowing how to whistle – hilarious.

From the moment you hear the narration in the beginning of the film, you know it’s wrong.

There was no way in hell I was gonna miss that game. Not just because there was a half a million dollar pot to be won, although that kind of money certainly demands attention. But because I needed to know how good I really was, once and for all.

Maverick

Maverick. Doesn’t. Care. About. Money. He puts all the effort in just to check his skills, prove something to himself… Excuse me, what did you say your name was?

Bret just gets himself into troubles, failing miserably at any attempts to outwit people and then resolves the problem by outshooting them.

In the original TV series the opponents of Bret varied from reasonably smart to really witty guys and girls, while Mel’s Bret deals with idiots to make him look smarter in the relative terms.

This Maverick is a natural sucker. Dandy Jim Buckley would have had a ball relieving this guy of his money. From the banker in the beginning to an Indian friend – everyone manages to end up with some of Bret’s money and he either never realizes it or never has the guts to do anything about it. Remember, how Garner’s Bret invented a scheme involving his brother and numerous friendly conmen to get back the money from the banker in the original TV Series – rocking chair and “I am working on it.” ? Well, something like that would never happen to Mel’s Bret – thinking is not his strength.

Mel Gibson as Bret Maverick

When he ends up in a truly life-threatening situation, do you think he finds a clever way out due to his quick-thinking and never-failing wit? Oh no, he starts praying and gets granted a miraculous escape!!

And to polish it off – Maverick apparently has superpowers to “charm” the cards and get the one he wants (just watch the competition scene at the end), which is presented under a sort of “you have to r-r-really believe and it will happen” motto.  Brains? Analytical mind? Nope, just magic.

I am not even going into the details of the ridiculous plot lines, the final Poker Championship that looks like a modern real-time TV contest and Annabelle who was supposed to replace (and be a carbon copy of) Samantha from the TV series, but lacks any sort of elegance, charm or brains.

Jodie Foster as Annabelle

Such a missed opportunity too – they could have done a sequel, continuation to Bret Maverick’s story with a solid, same quality as the original script, James Garner as Bret all those years later, and Mel Gibson as his son in the changed realities of the Western Frontier.

 

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Previous posts on Maverick:

John Henry Holliday by Peter Breck in the “Maverick TV Series” and a few gif’s as an illustration to his performance