The feature film “Maverick”, worn by Mel Gibson, is broadcast this Sunday evening on Arte. The opportunity to return to what is probably the best cameo in the history of cinema.
Maverick, broadcast this Sunday evening on Arte, is perhaps one of those somewhat underestimated films, which History has not sufficiently retained. Films like we don’t really make anymore, where action and comedy mingle on an equal level, without forcing the line on one side or the other. There reigns a beautiful relaxation, carried by a radiant Mel Gibson and irresistible dialogues.
However, it is not reducing the film to say that its greatest success is a cameo, this furtive appearance of a personality for the duration of a scene. Stan Lee had made it a habit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Alfred Hitchcock also had fun appearing in almost all of his films. Let’s not be afraid of words, the cameo in maverick is probably the best of all time. Just that.
In the famous scene, maverick goes to a bank that will soon be the subject of a robbery. The chief of the thieves, scarf on the nose, recovers the money, under the suspicious eye of the character played by Mel Gibson. An air of deja vu?
Indeed, once her scarf has fallen off, we notice Danny Glover, her partner in the Lethal Weapon franchise, also directed by Richard Donner. The two men remain silent for a few seconds, looking like a “Haven’t we met somewhere before?”. Finally the thief leaves by blowing up the bank and leaves the scene punctuating it with a cult “I’m too old for this bullshit”.
The way the actors play the scene makes the cameo particularly tasty. There is a serious dose of meta-reading at a time when it is not yet very common. Finally, it’s also fun to see the two characters on the other side of the law, with a Danny “Roger Murtaugh” Glover whose turn it is to detonate dynamite. A kind of personal revenge after, in Lethal Weapon 2, having literally sat on a bomb located under his toilet.
Lethal Weapon 2 trailer: