The BEAVER

“The BEAVER” (Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin & Jennifer Lawrence)

There’s no full frontal female nudity, and no, Jerry Mathers does not make a cameo appearance – still, this version of ‘The Beaver’ did not disappoint. In fact, it ‘wowed’ me; it was funny, touching, depressing, uplifting and weird. I could actually understand someone not liking it because it isn’t a film you can pigeonhole into a specific category. Let’s face it, people who went to see ‘Fast Five’ are not going to enjoy something this off-the-wall and relevant.
“The Beave” won’t do boffo box office but if you enjoy an intelligent family drama with enough quirky comedic touches to ensure a virtual roller coaster ride of emotions, then Mel Gibson as The Beaver is something you’ll enjoy. Provided you’re not one of the sanctimonious perfect people that won’t see this film simply because Gibson stars in it. Yes, he has personal issues that bug me – the melt downs on the phone with his ex not being one of them – What man hasn’t been (bleeped) by a (bleep) that (bleeped) him over? - but does that lessen his acting skills?
Gibson is outstanding in this film, as are all of the actors.
I thought back on the previous Gibson/Foster pairing in ‘Maverick’ & it’s like two entirely different actors here – ‘Maverick’, though not a horrible film, wasn’t one either actor could say was their finest work (most embarrassing, maybe – finest, no)
In ‘The Beaver’, Gibson gets the teeth, literally, as armed with a buck-toothed beaver puppet on his hand he chews up the scenery like he was building a freaking dam.
But in the subtle scenes, Jodie Foster as his wife gets the grand prize. Frequently she has to convey her character’s feelings through facial expressions and she does so with an acute awareness – probably aided by the fact that she was directing herself.
The plot concerns Walter Black (Gibson) the president of a toy manufacturing plant who has fallen into a deep depression. When wife Meredith (Foster) kicks him out of their home, Walter stops by a dumpster to toss out those of his belongings that are weighing him down – he finds a discarded hand puppet in the dumpster – a toothy beaver. Walter smirks at it & walks away... then turns back & takes the puppet with him.
Why? Well, apparently to assist Walter in his attempts to commit suicide. The puppet tells Walter he’s so worthless he doesn’t even have the guts to kill himself. During the ensuing argument with his hand, Walter winds up unconscious on the floor of his hotel room with his tie around the shower curtain rod & the TV on his head.
In a way, Walter succeeds in committing suicide as Walter Black fades away into oblivion and ‘The Beaver’ takes his place. His youngest son delights as dad shows him attention under the guise of an Australian accented rodent made of cloth, whilst eldest son, Porter (Anton Yelchin) is so embarrassed by his father’s new persona that his hatred for the man quickly reaches a boiling point. In his bedroom, Porter has a collection of post-its with ‘similarities’ written upon them between himself and his father – the high school student chagrins every time he adds another trait to the numerous yellow slips of paper that decorate his wall.
But as Walter rebounds from depression by announcing to his employees that The Beaver is now in charge and unlike the old regime, the puppet WILL listen to any ideas they may have to improve the company – Porter is approached by cheerleader Norah (Jennifer Lawrence) who wants to pay him to write her valedictorian speech.
‘The Beaver’ is like a twisted roller coaster – it soars and dives from sly comedic touches to gut-wrenching emotional moments to lead characters exhibiting extremely strange behavior to an ending, which even though I saw it coming, was still powerful.
Just to let you know, I lost my father to suicide when I was 16, so I can relate to this film in a very intimate way. That makes me prejudice – I loved it. Maybe this review will make you not want to see something this off center from the mainstream. I can accept that – my whole reason for doing these reviews is to simply tell you how each film affected me personally – I have no hidden agenda for liking or disliking any movie.
I won’t tell you I question your sanity if you see ‘The Beaver’ and don’t care for it (Well, I’ll say I question your sanity, but I won’t actually mean it)
But please do not refuse to see this remarkable film on the grounds that Mel Gibson has serious personality problems in his real life – you’ll just be depriving yourself of witnessing something that I think is a very special, unique film.