|
The Beaver
| Released |
17 June 2011 |
| Director |
Jodie Foster |
Starring
|
Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence, Cherry Jones |
| Writer(s) |
Kyle Killen |
Producer(s)
|
Steve Golin, Keith Redmon, Ann Ruark |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
90 minutes |
| Genre |
Drama |
| Rating |
15A |
|
|
Talk to the hand.
Having a very public breakdown isn’t the setback it once might have been in Hollywood- just look at Charlie Sheen. Mel Gibson is a different story though. His public persona up until recently had been exemplary, as one of the very few stars seemingly unspoiled by fame. He therefore had an awfully long way to fall and since his very public breakdown, the one time hero has become the most high profile persona non grata in the business.
That Gibson would choose to follow up the modest comeback of last years Edge of Darkness with a film where he spends the majority of the running time talking through a furry hand puppet is surprising to say the least. It all sounds like the set up for a rather off colour joke. Having seen it with my own eyes though, I can report back that what is most striking about The Beaver is how pedestrian it actually is. Take away the controversy and the gimmicks and this is essentially a run of the mill family drama with some nice performances, subtly directed by Jodie Foster.
Gibson plays Walter Black, the inept CEO of a struggling toy company who has fallen into a deep depression. After he is thrown out of the family home by his wife Meredith (Foster), he goes on a bender during which he finds a discarded hand puppet in a dumpster. Talking through the puppet, he finds himself able to cope with his depression and begins to turn things around; until The Beaver begins to take over his life completely.
Watching Gibson is a much more complicated business than it once was, now he has the spectre of mug shots constantly with him; but he actually manages well in a role that essentially means playing two very different characters at once. There is a nice balancing act between fragility and cruelty at work in this double act. Foster is competent as usual albeit in a role that seems under-developed. Meanwhile, the young cast are likable, including Anton Yelchin as Black’s troubled teenage son and Jennifer Lawrence, who does well to wring some interest out of the well-worn path of the head cheerleader with hidden depths.
Neither car crash nor triumph, The Beaver is a competently acted and directed film. Though there are some moments of surreal comedy and sudden darkness, it is not nearly as interesting as the pitch sounds.
-
Linda O’Brien |
