History Film / Maverick

* HollywoodNatives[=/=]InjunCountry: Lampooned. Joseph, Maverick's Indian friend, and his tribe play the role to the hilt... and when Maverick asks what all the drums and other such nonsense are about, Joseph explains that they're bilking a wealthy Russian duke who came to America wanting a stereotypical "Wild West" experience. When not obligated to play to an audience, they're as modern as anyone and Joseph not only speaks perfectly natural English but is also fluent in French. It's also lampshaded when Jacob says if they get forced to move again he's going to find some godforsaken swampland that nobody wants in the hopes people will leave them the hell alone. ([[HistoricalInJoke That won't]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Florida}} work.]])

** When [[spoiler: Annabelle steals half of Bret's winnings at the end of the film, he wonders why he left it in the satchel in the first place. His dad says he knows exactly why and Bret agrees - because getting it back will be fun and it's an excuse to see Annabelle again.]]

* KarmicThief: [[spoiler: Cooper]] and arguably [[spoiler:Maverick]]. [[spoiler: Cooper]] himself even talks about how much he enjoyed "nailing" [[spoiler:Duvall]], and Maverick's "old pappy" quote seems to acknowledge this. [[spoiler:Maverick]], meanwhile, is only ever shown claiming what he's fairly owed and the money of the truly-corrupt. The movie also indicates that he's in fact [[spoiler: just a fantastic poker player, winning fair and square in every game we see him play]], which means that he doesn't steal from any innocents either.

* PlayingCardMotifs: Certainly expected in a movie based on TabletopGame/{{poker}}. During a scene where Maverick tries to choose which card he draws from a deck, he picks the Queen of Hearts - a foreshadowing of his romantic encounter with Annabelle Bransford.

--> '''Maverick:''' Who wants to play poker? (others at the table raise their hands) Who wants to see some guy get killed? (hands go down). C'mon, let's play poker.

* {{Anticlimax}}: [[spoiler:The film starts with Maverick on the back of a horse with a noose around his neck and some snakes left behind by his captors to spook the horse so he'll be hanged. The first half of the film is about the circumstances that led him to this point. And when the moment arrives and Maverick's horse is about to bolt... the branch the rope is tied around, breaks]].

* HollywoodNatives[=/=]InjunCountry: Lampooned. Joseph, Maverick's Indian friend, and his tribe play the role to the hilt... and when Maverick asks what all the drums and other such nonsense are about, Joseph explains that they're bilking a wealthy Russian duke who came to America wanting a stereotypical "Wild West" experience. When not obligated to play to an audience, they're as modern as anyone and Joseph not only speaks perfectly natural English but is also fluent in French. It's also lampshaded when Jacob says if they get forced to move again he's going to find some godforsaken swampland that nobody wants in the hopes people will leave them the hell alone.

* FreezeFrameBonus: Also an AnachronismStew and a combined ShownTheirWork[=/=]CriticalResearchFailure. When the camera zooms in on the clock striking five, the patent number reads 19701. While the patent number is indeed for a clock, it wdas not issued until the year 1900, 25 years after the film is set.

* AccidentalMisnaming: ''Bert'' ? '''Bret''', his name's Bret.

** While strung up by a noose under a tree, Maverick addresses God, calling him "Lord" and promising he'll fix whatever bad thing he did if God can get him out of this situation; ''exactly'' the kind of thing Phillipe the Mouse does in Film/{{Ladyhawke}} all the time.

* [[ItsLikeIAlwaysSay Like My Pappy Always Said...]]: Maverick enjoys saying things his Pappy told him when young. [[spoiler:Turns out he has changed most of them because they're so boring the way his Pappy said them. His Pappy is not amused by this]].

* FreezeFrameBonus: Also an AnachronismStew and a combined ShownTheirwork/CriticalResearchFailure. When the camera zooms in on the clock striking five, the patent number reads 19701. While the patent number is indeed for a clock, it wdas not issued until the year 1900, 25 years after the film is set.

* ThemeTuneCameo: The movie occasionally seems to use SourceMusic, but never calls attention to whatever is playing it. This is briefly broken when Maverick whistles part of the tune that was playing during the poker game at the start of the movie - suggesting that the music was actually played by a real band in the saloon where the game took place, and that it simply had an EarWorm effect on Maverick.

* CallingParentsByTheirName: Maverick does so to Cooper throughout the film, because it is integral to the success of Maverick's plan that Cooper's true identity as Maverick's father remain secret from the rest of the cast.

* ChekhovsGag: "Now, my pappy always used to say..."

* ConMenHateGuns[=/=]DoesntLikeGuns: While Maverick is a Quickdraw with ImprobableAimingSkills, he doesn't use his gun to solve problems. He could have easily drawn and shot TheDragon and everyone else at the table in the initial poker game and saved himself a heck of a lot of hassle for the entire movie, but that's not the way Bret rolls. But when backed into a corner, Bret shows that he can easily handle six armed men, [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands disarming them all with his gun]]. In the end, [[spoiler:the only people he kills are a few mooks who are [[KillingInSelfDefense about to kill him anyway]]. He doesn't even kill the BigBad or TheDragon]].

* GambitPileup: [[spoiler:Angel and the Commodore vs. the Commodore and Cooper vs. Cooper and Maverick.Ange.]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Annabelle standing at the feet of the bathtubs of [[spoiler: Maverick and Cooper]], and glancing into both as she walks between them, going, "''My'', [[BiggerIsBetter such splendid similarities!]]"

* CallingParentsByTheirName: Maverick does so to Cooper throughout the film, because it is integral to the success of Maverick's plan that Cooper's true identity as Maverick's father (and thus, is actually in on his plan) remain secret from the rest of the cast.

* CardSharp: A few of the players at the game...but when they get caught, they're thrown overboard.

* AscendedExtra: An interesting take on this trope. Listen to the theme song of the series, and you'll hear a reference to "Annabelle"--presumably a former love Maverick left because "Luck is the lady that he loves the best". (There's also a reference to a riverboat....)
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Skewered during the encounter with the tribe of Indians. Maverick speaks their language just fine (and the Indians know English) and "translates" for the rest of the group, saying that they have trespassed on sacred ground, and the Indians' gods demand a sacrifice. Meanwhile, the subtitles relate the actual conversation: the chief just wants to know if Maverick has come for the money he owes him.

* BankRobbery: Maverick is a bystander.
* BatmanGambit / IndyPloy: Bret is a master of both.

* {{Expy}}: Annabelle seems to be one for Samantha Crawford, a very similar character in the series who is also a SouthernBelle con artist and fulfills the same WorthyOpponent + DatingCatwoman role for Maverick.
* FakeUltimateHero: Marshal Zane Cooper.

* TheFilmOfTheSeries

* FriendsAllAlong:
** Maverick and the Indian tribe.
** Also, Maverick and the bank manager he pulls a gun on.
** [[spoiler:Maverick and Cooper]].

* AlanSmithee: On the score album, the last track is a saloon song called "[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Tartine De Merde]]", whose singer is billed as "[[Film/ThreeAmigos S. Bush]]." Have a look at the music credit on the poster above there to see his real name.

* NotNowWereTooBusyCryingOverYou: Happens after Brett is thought to have fallen to his death over a cliff.

* ThemeTuneCameo: The movie occasionally seems to use SourceMusic, but never calls attention to whatever is playing it. This is briefly broken when Maverick whistles part of the tune that was playing during the poker game at the start of the movie - suggesting that the music was actually played by a real band in the saloon where the game took place, and that it simply had an in-universe EarWorm effect on Maverick.

* QuickDraw: Maverick can draw blindingly fast, though [[ObfuscatingStupidity he pretends that he can't actually hit anything]. The truth is he also has ImprobableAimingSkills.

* QuickDraw: Maverick can draw blindingly fast. He [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretends that he can't actually hit anything]] though when in reality he also has ImprobableAimingSkills.