In “The Beaver,” Mel Gibson plays Walter Black, a severely depressed CEO who finds a shabby brown hand puppet in the trash, puts it on his arm and proceeds to let it take over his live. Is it possible for a depressed man to heal himself by projecting his personality onto a hand puppet? If you can accept this premise, you’ll probably like this movie. But the other obstacle you’ll need to hurdle is Mel Gibson, the man. There’s no doubt that Mel Gibson, the actor, gives a stellar performance, but his life is in ruins due to alcoholism. And the headlines he’s made recently, his rages, his violence, his anti-Semitic remarks, can’t be ignored. Can you suspend enough disbelief?
Jodie Foster directed the movie from a script written by Kyle Killen and cast herself in the thankless role of Walter’s supportive wife, Meredith. Depending on the situation, Meredith’s expression is bewildered, distracted or loving. Essentially, the story line goes like this: Walter has a mental breakdown and starts talking like a cockney beaver; then he has another break and doesn’t. There’s an elaborate subplot about his angry son, played by Anton Yelchin, which detracts from Walter’s story and shifts everything from dealing with mental illness to repairing a father/son relationship. As good as Gibson is, his character is still caught between the tragedy of the man and the silliness of the beaver. 5/6/11
1 comment:
Mel Gibson is not one of my favorites but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The acting was supurb and Jodie Foster's direction was terrific. So many of these "Life Dramas" are so contrived with copy-cat screen plays that this one seemed fresh and unusual. Mel showed real courage to get back on screen and tackle this role. If you can get past your feelings about Mel Gibson's bad behavior you will like this movie.
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