The Beaver

I'm lazy so this is cut and paste from my blog.

Minor Spoilers within.

There is so much one could say about this film and the story of it's production. Most people already know the tale, so I'll give the short version. The Beaver completed production in November of 2009 and shortly after Mel Gibson's famous telephone conversations with his then girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva showed up all over the Internet and the media and pretty much destroyed any chance this film had of being released. The Beaver did a tiny art house run, making almost no money. I thought it would be a very long time before I would get to see this film, but, surprisingly, it showed up in the pay-per-view on my cable and my chance had arrived! I simply had to see this train wreck within a train wreck for myself.


The Beaver begins with voice-over narration by the furry title character. He explains that Walter Black (Mel Gibson), CEO of Jerry Co. toy company, feels trapped in a state of deep depression. He spends most of his time sleeping his life away and avoiding his wife (Jodie Foster) and two children, high school age Porter (Anton Yelchin) and younger son Henry (Riley Thomas Stewart). His wife throws him out of the house where he finds a tattered beaver puppet in a dumpster. After a life changing event, The Beaver begins talking to Walter and makes him change his ways.

First things first, Mel Gibson gives a performance as good as any in his career. He fearlessly takes on the role of Walter, from quite moments of self induced isolation to outrageous extroversion, Gibson and his puppet own the screen. The rest of the cast is turning in good performances, but they are completely eclipsed by Gibson's charismatic mania. Of course, he is capable of carrying the film, proving that, despite his personal issues, he still has the chops to be a leading man. The circumstances of his career are unfortunate, I feel the man has years more of fine work in him. Perhaps one day the public can forgive him.


A frightening image, isn't it?

The Beaver is so over shadowed by Gibson's off screen troubles that it takes on two distinct levels of meaning. It's amazing to watch Walter's breakdown and attempt at rebuilding his life, while keeping in mind the events of Mel's off camera life. When watching films I try to divorce myself from the personal opinions I have of the people involved with the film. Unfortunately, because of the creepy parallels between Gibson's public breakdowns and his character's descent, it's near impossible to do with The Beaver.

Once you get past the drama behind the scenes of The Beaver, you end up with a decent comedy/drama that never quite works as a whole. There's some very funny moments intertwined with some very serious moments, which works fine in most films. However, the film wants to pull laughs from attempted suicide while trying to maintain a sense that Walter's illness is very real and serious. The film sometimes feels too sarcastic to take serious, while trying to maintain a tone of tense family drama. Also, Walter's wife, Meredith, seems too quick to accept the puppet, going from an emotional scene expressing her doubt, to allowing the puppet to sleep in bed with the pair. The world these people inhabit is far too accepting of Walter's condition, in my opinion, as they rarely react with scepticism. This dynamic feels intentionally funny, but it softens the moments of realistic family drama, which is where the real power of this film should shine. The Beaver just wants too much to be both a black comedy and a serious family drama and it really can't make the two come together.

The supporting cast really felt lackluster. Jodie Foster is doing fine work here, but she's completely under utilised, in a film she directed herself, no less! Anton Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence, who I normally enjoy in films, are playing slightly unlikable characters and there's little to enjoy from their performances. Porter is terrified of being like his father, but he's not terrified to be a total jerk. He pries into Norah's personal life behind her back and he ignores his family and is just as responsible for the rift between himself and his father but he places all the blame on Walter. The film tries to paint him in a positive light, attempting to make him the victim in the family, but he just comes off as mean and insensitive. Jennifer Lawrence is a bland overachiever who is worth about one sentence of discussion.



But, the problem with The Beaver isn't about tone, or it's weak supporting cast. It's about Mel. So, can the world forgive Mel Gibson? I can't answer for others, his crimes are indisputably cruel, especially for his greatest victim, himself. I can say that despite his public fall from grace, the man is one of the most singularly talented filmmakers alive today. From his commanding screen presence in every film, to his stunning work behind the camera on Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto, there's no denying his talent. It's a shame that this film also fell victim to his personal problems, because there's a genuine sense of emotion on display in in Gibson's performance. He, alone, makes this film worth watching, but he can't elevate it to something great.

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hm... interesting remark. i'm not sure this is so, but ok

thanks for a review, it was well-written

How do you disagree? I'd love for you to elaborate.

I'll start with the provocative statement that the humor always causes the dramatic effect. psychologists claim that this is something like recovery because of very intensive feeling which the laughing is. In theory, people laugh because they feel the difference between the reality and the thing at which they laugh at. That's if to say about common experience, Heidegger & Bergson explained this more widely. In their opinion, fear also can become the reason to smile or laugh. So a dramatic piece can include elements that make it funny in some way. The best example is black and English humor. But I think that a comedy has more chances to become dramatic than a drama to become comic

I don't disagree with anything you said. The problem arises in this film in particular because of some of the places it goes in order to get it's laughs. For example, the attempted suicide was funny because it was early in the film and they hadn't tried to set the tone. But as the movie progresses the film tries to take on a more serious feel and suddenly that suicide scene isn't as funny or it feels like it belongs in a different film.

Conversely, take a look at American Beauty. That's a film that fits in the same category. It's dramtic, it's funny, but it has a consistent tone and the impact is strong throughout. The Beaver never feels like it finds it pace. It's especailly apparent when you compare the end of The Beaver to the beginning. The first twenty minutes or so feels like it's going to be a more fun and light hearted film than what you end up with.

Maybe I'm wrong on this, it's just how I felt as the credits rolled.

Originally posted in Sexy Cineplexy: Reviews.
The Beaver
(directed by Jodie Foster, 2011)



The Beaver is a fascinating and complex yet lighthearted study of insanity, genius, depression, mental illness and creativity directed by an Academy Award winning closeted lesbian who probably was drawn to the material in part thanks to its pornographic, female private part title and "Sesame Street buys the Lifetime Movie Network" nature. I also think Jodie happened to like the material because it does actually speak some about the roles of geniuses in our world and how different and difficult life can be for them - how outside of society they must live. Jodie has spoken of her interest in geniuses before - I remember it in her commentary track for Contact. Of course, she's also famously known for directing the small hit picture of 1991, Little Man Tate, where she played the mother of a gifted child. I never saw the movie, although I've seen it around and have been tempted to check it out. Oh, well - another day.

The main genius of The Beaver is a guy named Walter Black, played by Mel Gibson. I do not wish to say anything about Mel's current affairs in the world, as I believe The Beaver has a lot to say for itself without us needing to infringe on Mel's own personal matters. Walter is a married man, a father of two boys, one still in elementary school and the other is about to graduate high school. His wife is played by Jodie Foster. Walter is the CEO of a toy company that's about to go bankrupt. Why? Because Walter is suffering from a severe depression - brought about thanks to genetics, something he has no control over. He isn't going to work. He's sleeping all the time. His wife is distancing herself from him because of this and so are his children. Finally, she's had enough of the zombie in her house so she kicks him out. That first night, in the hotel he's staying at, he has a breakthrough. Earlier, he had found a beaver puppet that somebody had tossed into a dumpster -- Walter saves it and takes it for himself. What do you know? He puts it on his hand and gives it a voice -- a voice that sounds like Michael Caine, the British actor. A voice that'll get on your nerves.

The next day he goes back home, uninvited, and introduces the family to the new friend he keeps on his hand -- a friend that won't shut the **** up. A friend that won't let him talk for himself. It's quite funny at first but it'll soon drive you crazy. The beaver is actually a confusing, scary figure. Although it may appear to be helping Walter, it's actually doing him a disservice. It doesn't help that Walter is telling his wife (and everyone else) that the beaver is actually a "prescription puppet" that his old psychiatrist gave him as therapy -- not true. That old psychiatrist is staying an old psychiatrist and Walter isn't really seeing him again at all. What we have here is a guy going through mania, believing that he has cured himself. It's really nutty -- and it'll drive you bananas witnessing how far he goes with the beaver. But why is it he can have sex with his wife while still wearing that damn beaver on his hand (Oh, that's right - Jodie, you lezzie, I guess you need a beaver at hand) but when he and Jodie go out for their 20th wedding anniversary dinner, she fusses and makes him take it off? He even SHOWERS with that damn beaver on his hand! He showers with it even when he's having an intimate shower with Jodie (I know, Jodie, I know.)

There is also a rather interesting subplot involving Walter's oldest son, Porter, who is helping this cheerleader/valedictorian on her speech for graduation day -- she's paying him to help her express herself. We discover that she's very artistic and she even has a history with getting in trouble with the law for making graffiti art. She also has a dead brother, who she's trying to forget about. Porter is going through his own issues -- he deeply fears turning out to be just as miserable and pathetic as his father.

The movie starts off on the wrong foot. Or maybe I should say the wrong HAND, since that damn beaver on Mel Gibson's hand is rather ridiculous and really takes away from the seriousness and deeply felt passion that I think Jodie Foster was trying to channel. I was bored around the first half hour mark. I thought things were extremely sappy and unbeliveable and stupid. Walter goes back to work with the beaver on his hand, who is suddenly the new "boss." He invents a toy called "Mr. Beaver's Woodchopper Kit" that becomes a big hit and saves his company from going under. Luckily, The Beaver also manages to save itself near the end of the film -- all thanks to its messages about the bonds of family, the power of being an eccentric genius and how difficult it can be to express yourself, the roller coaster of life and what if being crazy was just pretending to be happy?

This is a serious drama that unfortunately at times feels too zany and strange and it even borders on being a preschooler's version of American Beauty, a depressed episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood where Mr. Rogers walks in with a big grin on his face, a beaver on his hand and says, "Hi, kids. I am under the care of a prescription puppet and I am no longer Mr. Rogers. I am a beaver. Have you ever known a beaver before? Well, you do now."

Funny, I don't think we ever found out Mel Gibson's beaver's name....



Also, I must tell you that I thought Mel Gibson did a great job puppeteering. I think that if The Beaver had been made at some other time in Mel's career, when he was really hot and everyone loved him, it really could have been a bigger, stronger, more memorable, more timeless movie. But the fault's not on his shoulders at all, really. It really is a matter of getting the balance right with the story, the pacing, the realism and maybe the directing. I do wonder a little about what Jodie Foster was really thinking about all of this. It's certainly not garbage or amateur arthouse trash, but it doesn't tackle the mental illness that Walter (and Porter, even) are going through with enough seriousness in a strong, emotionally fulfilling, deeply eventful storytelling way. I swear, I almost find the story of Porter and Nora, the artistic valedictorian, more interesting and I think it's because their story was shown in a more serious light while Walter's story was a bonanza of Shari Lewis and Lambchop episodes.

Well, crap, Sexy Celeb, I should have been reading your review thread! Actually, I guess I'm going to have to start reading them at all!

It sounds like we agree on The Beaver. I wonder how the rest of your reviews will sit next to my opinions!

I didn't think the suicide attempt scene was funny. It had a sort of lighthearted tone to it -- he fails at the attempt, there's comedy in the fact that he failed, but it's not some sort of big joke. A pregnant lady's not gonna laugh so hard that she goes into labor.

The movie does get more serious near the end, but it never really feels forced. At least, I didn't think so. The problem is not with the suicide scene at all or the seriousness of the ending -- the problem is the whole insanity of the situation. It was pretty damn funny to me when Jodie sees Mel with the beaver on his hand for the first time and he just immediately starts talking to her as the beaver, but when it became a nauseating case of the beaver being the best thing ever for everybody and nobody caring about him constantly talking through it - or taking it off - even when he showers, sleeps, has sex and works at the office - that's the problem. That's the stupidity.

I would actually even say that the movie never really gets serious enough, even at the end. I probably rated the movie too highly, but I was fascinated by what they did here in this movie -- I actually like it for showing the dad as completely crazy and eccentrically wearing the beaver. A much more serious, realistic approach for The Beaver would have been to have made Mel Gibson wear the beaver as an actual part of real therapy and see how he progresses -- but in the real movie, he lies about seeing a psychiatrist, and I don't even know if a psychiatrist would even give a beaver puppet to somebody to use a therapy. I don't think they would because the movie showed that the beaver was actually a negative.

Interestingly, I wonder if The Beaver is anti-psychiatry. They would probably deny this, but I do get a sense that Jodie Foster and whoever wrote the movie have qualms about the definitions of sanity and insanity and about the practices and beliefs of psychiatry. They show Mel Gibson using the beaver as part of his own therapy. They talk about being gifted and being different and how hard it can be to live in the world like that. Mel's character never goes to the doctor. Mel's character, in his own demented way, does manage to find a way to come out of his shell, reconnect with his family and save his job, all without a psychiatrist. When his therapy - the beaver - starts actually scaring people away, it's then that Mel loses it again. But he gets his family back and all is well. There is no emphasis on needing a doctor or medicine. It's brought up that Mel's character is suffering through mania, but it's never said that psychiatry is the solution to his problems. There is also a disdain for things like self help books, Chicken Soup books, etc. It's like The Beaver is saying - and the hand puppet is a good metaphor for this:

Take matters into your own hands.

Quite frankly, I applaud this approach and it's one reason why I liked The Beaver because I think it's bold and original and gives us a story about madness without going towards doctors and hospitals.

Although, I know a lot of movies go without doctors and hospitals.

You're definitely right about all of this. The first half of The Beaver is not as good as the second half. Maybe you preferred the first half more? I preferred the second half.

I also felt like this movie was some sort of cheap, knockoff version of American Beauty. I also saw someone on IMDB compare this to American Beauty. I think it's because both deals with a suburban family, a father who is depressed, a wife who is distancing herself from him, and a teenage child who's acting up and getting weird and falling in love with someone at their high school who is artistic and unusual. It really does feel modeled after American Beauty -- quite a lot when you look at it all like that.

Yeah, it really could have been more interesting had they changed stuff around and made it feel more unique. There's really not much for Jodie Foster to do except be the wife who's witnessing what Mel is doing. She doesn't have much life on her own. Neither does the youngest child. Mel Gibson really does steal the show here. He does some pretty good acting in this -- but the movie itself is a little caved in.

I almost feel like I under evaluated the movie after reading this!




I did like the first half better. I liked that the audience can get a laugh when the shower rod breaks. I liked that the people around Walter accept the beaver so readily, until the film wants to set a more serious tone. Then it just didn't work for me. When Meridith allows him to wear the Beaver while they're having sex it could be funny, in a different film. I think we can agree on that.

I guess it's just supposed to be a miracle that the beaver was at least making Walter talk to his family and get out of his funk/shell. I can imagine that would be a good reason to use it -- I just think there's something about it that comes off as unrealistic. It's like the movie moves at a fast pace showing all the different things the beaver is doing right along with Walter -- and it's too unbelieveable to imagine that the beaver practically never comes off his hand. Who would seriously stick with it that long? And why is he sticking with it that long? Why a beaver? I know it's what he happened to find, but why does it have so much power over him? These are questions that I think could have been answered. Nobody asks them. It could have been a hand puppet of anything. But would he have stuck with any hand puppet he had found? I suppose it doesn't matter, but it could have added to the movie.