In case you missed it in theaters (most people did), The Beaver stars Mel Gibson, who speaks through a beaver puppet he found in a dumpster after he hits rock bottom. Sure enough, the titular Beaver bears Gibson’s native Aussie accent and actually helps turn his life around… for a while. The Beaver inspires a new hot-selling product at the toy company Gibson runs, his wife (Jodie Foster, who also directs) lets him move back in and his youngest son adores The Beaver. His oldest son (Anton Yelchin), however, keeps notes of all the negative traits he shares with his father and only grows to resent him even more.
Sure, it sounds preposterous. In fact, the film was originally conceived as a lighter comedy starring Steve Carrell or Jim Carrey, but Gibson makes us all believers in The Beaver’s healing powers and makes the film’s serious tone work. His masterful performance reminds us why he was one of the biggest movie stars in the world at one point, even if he is a bigger star in the gossip pages these days.
Yelchin is also involved in a nicely fleshed out storyline with the seemingly perfect valedictorian (Jennifer Lawrence) who hires him to write her graduation speech. This subplot parallels the main story arc and wonderfully captures teenage vulnerability through the performances of two strong young actors and some well written scenes.
Foster’s character, on the other hand, annoyed me with her questionable parenting tactics and impatience in handling Gibson’s recovery. I left wondering what attracted Foster to the material because her character is easily the least interesting of the four principal players. Whenever the young son can’t sleep or exhibits odd behavior, Foster’s character acts helpless and immediately runs to Gibson for help. She’s essentially a control freak who has lost all control, and I suppose that’s easy to do when your husband is bipolar and refuses to even shower without a beaver puppet on his hand.
Foster’s commentary track is great as she doesn’t hesitate to point out the scenes that were reshot and consequently are mismatches in terms of the actors’ haircuts and skin tone. She also offers some explanation on why some strong comedic scenes (that can be seen in the extras) had to be cut after she decided the film should be darker in tone than the script initially suggested. There’s also the standard 12-minute making-of documentary.
The Beaver never gives us anything we didn’t already expect from it (perhaps that’s why I enjoyed it more at home with the director commentary). It has some moments that would normally be considered shocking, but we’re never really surprised to see. It’s pretty easy to see where the film is headed due to the familiarity of the plot trajectory. Yet, the ride is still enjoyable enough thanks to the strength of its characters and (especially) Gibson’s performance.
