Maverick is a film dating back to 1994 and is an American Western directed by Richard Donner starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner. It is based on the 1957 series of the same name.
Maverick is a gambler, and con artist who needs money to enter a high stakes Winner Takes All poker game.
The Main Story
Mel Gibson takes on the lead role as Bret Maverick and sees the film open with Maverick in a tricky situation at a riverboat poker game.
His primary motivation for playing in the poker game is to prove he is the best poker player of all time and the lure of big money. However, the stake to enter is $25000, and he is $3000 short.
He ropes in a posse of other conmen to help him plot on a massive card tournament held on a riverboat. It seems like a simple traipse initially; however, things get trickier with a series of twists. He scams hopeful contestants in a preliminary card game to win the money he needs to enter the high stakes poker game making enemies out of them. Added to his woes is he soon realises he has a cunning marshal on his tail.
The film goes through the usual pursuing of gangsters that one expects from a Western, but with a smattering of poker games in the mix and twists and turns along the way.
The Ending
Despite being double-crossed numerous times, Maverick eventually gets the money to enter his high stakes poker game which he won. He received winnings of $500 000 but only got half of it as one of his fellow conmen stole the other half.
He would have lost it all, had he not hidden the remaining money down the side of his boots.