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Show Thursday, May 26, 1994 D Page B3 Maverick kicks off summer movie feast '7 IK - -.1 mm The Park Record D Section B . us i ii v.A' run i un i -by RICK BROUGH Record guest writer Maverick 12 Starring Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson, James Garner Directed by Richard Donner Warner Bros. 1994 How can we begin to discuss the summer's first major fiasco, Maverick! Could we say that Mel Gibson has made his version of Last Action Hero! Can we report that Jodie Foster's venture into comedy is a spectacular misfire? Should we speculate that James Garner will be lucky to get a cable TV series? Nah. Just kidding No, really. I was just joking around. You should go see the picture. Honest. You really should. Look. Tell you what I'll start the review again. Maverick -k-kirk Starring Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson,, James Garner Directed by Richard Donner Warner Bros. 1994 OK. Now, where were we.... Didn't mean to alarm anybody, but I was just trying to get into the spirit of Richard Donner's comedy-Western comedy-Western which is chock-full of people who are never on the level. At any point in Maverick, any one , of the characters can con, swindle, hornswoggle or pull the chain on any one of the other characters. It's an enjoyable kick-off to the summer movie season, if only because the stars are having so much fun. The plot, such as it is, concerns Bret Maverick (Mel Gibson) bouncing around the West, trying to raise enough money to enter the All-Rivers Poker Tournament sort of a gamblers' Superbowl. Riding into a ramshackle desert town (a location on Lake Powell) he finds that his luck never runs smooth. In fact, a reliable axiom in this movie is that one plot twist deserves another. For example: Four ruffians burst into town and attack Maverick but (surprise!) he winds up beating the tar out of them. The next day though (reversal!) they corner him in an alley, but (twist!) everyone's f all smiles. It turns out Bret hired . them to stage the fight to intimidate a real bad guy who was giving them trouble. The problem is (double twist!) Bret reveals he has no money to pay them and it looks like they're going to give him a genuine whupping. However m i Jill - . 1Tnrwtirrrrf -w ..-.m ...... .... iwirfimil aftTnef ImJ mt-miiiiim iMMMiiail X if Era mil Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner star in Maverick. (twist! twist!) he finds a spare $100 at the last minute, and the ruffians end up digging into their own pockets because they owe him change. All these reversals would give you whiplash, but you're persuaded to go along with the story, just to watch Gibson's version of the likable, fast-talking and self-effacing self-effacing Maverick. He isn't just a copy of the old TV hero. There's a touch of Mel in the fact that Bret likes to give people the impression he's a little deranged. (If that's reminiscent of Lethal Weapon, it's also no coincidence that the Weapon movies were also done by Richard Donner.) Jodie Foster (who hasn't played comedy, I think, since her Disney days) is Annabelle Bransford, a lady card shark with a plantation accent that she will admit, is bogus. ("Most gentlemen like my Southern," she says.) You can tell Annabelle and Maverick are smitten, because they steal from each other. He trips her on her keister, she keeps calling him "Bert" Finally, they are joined by the old master of comic under-playing himself, JamesGarner: Wearing aj ' derby instead of the Maverick - Stetson, Garner is a chagrined- : looking old lawman named Zane Cooper. When the three are stranded by a runaway stage in the Southern Utah wilderness, Cooper functions partly as a romantic rival, partly as a chaperon, and partly as a reluctant lion who's inclined to let ff ALL SHOWS BEFORE 6:00 $2.50 PER PERSON 654-1181 Starting this Friday 94teeber,Reel1 yADB A'DABD A-D0 ! I No passes or supe reavers Shows Friday at 5:00, 7:15, 9:30 Shows Saturday to Thursday at 1:00, 3:00, 7:15, 9:30 113 No. Main. Heber, Reel 2 No Escape Shows Friday at 4:30, 6:45, 9:00 Shows Saturday to Thursday at 2:00, 4:30, 6:45, 9:00 i Holiday Village Mall 649-6541 rto TiPii '!' EDDIE MURPHY I3B1ERI.Y HILLS 0 flvm-mdfbm No passes or supersavers 4:30,7:30,9:50 MON-FRI 1 :45, 4:30, 7:30, 9:50 SAT 4 w 0 3 VASDA 27 No passes or supersavers 4:15.7:15,9:40 MON - FRI 1:30,4:15,7:15,9:40 SAT-SUN ML JODIE FOSTER JAMES GARNER is No passes or supersavers 400,700,9:45 MON-FRI 1:15,400,700,9:45 SAT -SUN Cinema Review Maverick do the young strenuous heroic stuff. There are time when two stars have made a great, bickering couple, like Gibson and Danny Glover. But Gibson, Foster and Gamer make up a great bickering screen trio one of the few times I've seen it Gamer conjures up memories of the old TV series, but he doesn't upstage Gibson's new portrayal. He complements it In fact, there's another twist, at the end of the picture, that shows why it makes perfect sense for Gamer to be in the new Maverick. The by-play between the three stars dominates the early third of the picture, but Maverick, in its loose-jointed way, jumps to something else. (It is like a bunch of different pictures loosely joined by a plot In the middle of the film, Maverick meets the war chief Joseph, who screams and whoops for the benefit of some white travelers, then complains, "My throat is killing me." As played with sardonic humor by Graham Greene, Joseph is a kindred con-man spirit His tribe only daubs on the war paint and pounds the drums because they're paid to provide local color for a visiting arch-duke. Joseph addresses the Russian as "his largeness." Greene is the best of the small, emerging group of Native American actors, and here, he's funny even doing old F. Troop jokes, like jumping in fright when he sees Maverick in war paint The last portion of the movie concerns the floating poker tournament on a steamboat where Bret competes against, among others, Annabelle, and a glowering villain (Alfred Molina); Cooper referees the event; and the tourney is organized by a suspicious Commodore (James Coburn.) This is the closest that the picture comes to a straightforward continued on B4 5 VIDLUb tor 5 DAYS for 5 DOLLARS OFFER GOOD 365 DAYS A YEAR. ON REGULAR 2-DAY RENTALS ONLY CD.'S TAPES All the latest releases "We will make special order? OFFICIAL PARK WEST TICKET OUTLET Over 8000 Videos Regular Rentals. $1.19 For 2 Days! 13SI LAST KIARNS (AT THE EMPORIUM) 649-7222 Hours) Mon-Thur. 10-9 BrL 10-10 San 12-9 r$i -oo KING m BUCK $1.00 J (rTW ETTTiTil' ibiiliU Exp. 61594 t2Ja! I LtTrrr-rr-. . - ' KEVIN CLINT COSTNER EASTWOOD Wnr n 7 f r Hi WARNER BROS. Presents A MALPAS0 Production KEVIN COSTNER CLINT EASTWOOD LAURA DERN "A PERFECT WORLD" Music by LENNIE NIEHAUS Film Editor JOEL COX Production Designed by HENRY BUMSTEAD Director of PhotograDhv JACK N. GREEN Written by JOHN LEE HANCOCK Produced by MARK JOHNSON and DAVID VALDES WKRBS0S uireaea oy u.m i tt i vvuuu 'mm"smz.isz Caramon rSoundludi Album on Reprise tesrttei i CDs I Read me Signet Novel pQ.l3 nmrinv mama ,ffias! QOwKjotKintd by Die National Canning Institute vwnwm home veto Colofl38mirB. 12990 OiwwimHonvViiIco PARK CITY VIDEO 1821 SIDEWINDER DRIVE PROSPECTOR SQUARE (Next to Nacha Mamas) Movies Camcorders TV's Video Players Games Sun-Thuxs 11-9 Fri-Sat 11-10 649-2572 6$ A delectable series of Cooking Classes for a delicious summer season! Saturday, June 4, Desserts and Beyond 2 o'clock to 4 o'clock From luscious chocolates to berries and cream. Saturday, June 18, Pasta Perfect 2 o'clock to 4 o'clock Fresh pastas and sauces for sumptuous summer menus. Thursday, June 30, Summer Soups & Salads 4 o'clock to 6 o'clock Making the most of summer's savory fruits and vegetables. Presented by Executive Chef Mikel Trapp and Executive Sous Chef David Derfel. $30 per class. Call to register, 649-3700. (IP Stein Eriksen Lodge;, v; : lklll L A V I i L t A Il i ,w The Glitretind, Utah's Best Sunday Brunch, Most Romantic Restaurant - 7 I toil R I i I 4 The excitement is building... bubbling... brewing... as Stein Eriksm Lodgi kicks off its first-ever Beer Festival! Hero's What's On Tap... There'll be 16 beers from 4 popular microbreweries A Music by Chord On Blues Fashion show by Bjorn Stova A Beermaldng demonstrations AND whet your appetite with Spicy Southwestern, Barbecue, Oriental and other fabulous fare. vb 3Ty Saturday, May 28, (Memorial Day Weekend) on the scenic outer decks of Stein Eriksen Lodge. 11 am to 5 pm Admission is free. Stay over and enjoy Utah's Best Sunday Brunch! Deluxe rooms available - just $89. A' AX7 Stein Eriksen Lodge Silver Lake Village Deer Valley. Utah 649-3700 Festival Is weather permitting. Double occupancy, excludes tax, subject to availability. Must be 21 to consume alcoholic beverages In Utah. 5tt J |