This is Foster's third adventure as a film director, here displaying quite a bit of skill as a filmmaker. The very talented American actress is working with a script by Kyle Killen, this being his first film. Apparently, his script generated quite a bit of attention in Hollywood (I can't image for a second why), ending up on the 2008 Black List, which is essentially a list of the best scripts that are yet to be produced. Now this is interesting, because what was in that supposedly promising screenplay seems to have gotten completely lost in translation upon being adapted onto the big screen. I don't mean that Foster has royally screwed up (although I guess in retrospect she kinda did), it's just that what may have read incredibly well in this script may have been entirely vacant of any chance of being successful when physically acted out. And the truth is, I can actually picture this being a good read; but as a good watch, it is just horrendous, failing to work in any way at all when you see a man with a beaver sitting on his goddamn hand.
The basic premise is this: Gibson plays Walter Black, a toy executive who is clinically depressed and lives a melancholy life, much to the dismay of his dysfunctional family. Foster plays Walter's wife Meredith, a rollercoaster designer (seriously), who decides enough is enough, and finally kicks Walter out of the family house for being such a mope. Walter goes to a hotel room and attempts to commit suicide. However, he is stopped by a little furry friend that is wrapped around his left hand.
This is the beaver, a hand puppet Walter took from a dumpster earlier that night while throwing stuff out from the trunk of his car. Walter moves the beaver's mouth while speaking in his Ray Winstone voice, deluded that the beaver is a separate person from himself, this being his way of dealing with reality. And from then on, Walter speaks mostly through this inanimate object in order to phase out the "negative aspects of his personality," barely uttering a word as Walter Black the man.
This inevitably causes some family troubles when Walter returns home, though his youngest son Henry (Riley Thomas Stewart) loves the buck-toothed rodent. His eldest son Porter (Anton Yelchin, "Terminator Salvation") is less enthusiastic, their already-awful relationship initially worsened by the revelation that daddy now talks through a puppet on his hand (can I just add that Porter's obsession with trying to be as different from his father as humanly possible is like something out of a quirky-turkey Wes Anderson movie?). And Meredith is at first confused, then accepts the situation, and then becomes frustrated when Walter won't let the beaver go. Not even when he's playing with Meredith's beaver...
This is no doubt an intriguing concept that is made somewhat poignant by the very public real-life troubles between Gibson and ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. Gibson is now a public enemy practically for the recorded, alcohol-fuelled phone calls between he and Grigorieva, and many have claimed that this film was meant to be his saving grace of sorts (even though it was filmed before the scandal). In terms of acting, Gibson is safe; he is a very fine actor and he plays Walter with an earnest gusto that is believable and occasionally heartbreaking. In terms of the film saving his career and public image, I doubt it will happen; "The Beaver" is far too much of a mess for that.
The film is a dramedy, so there's already a balance between humour and drama that the film must sustain. I'd say "The Beaver" is more of a drama, though there were moments when I found myself unsure if I should be laughing or taking what I was watching seriously. Watching Walter argue with his wife while talking through the puppet in his hilariously shaky Cockney accent is frankly laughable, and a scene in which the beaver and Walter violently attack each other is eerily similar to the slapstick comedy of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead 2."
There's also an incredibly dark and violent event which occurs towards the end of the film that completely caught me off-guard. Given the tone of the rest of the film, unbalanced as it was, this moment (don't worry, I shall give nothing away) is both ridiculously out-of-place and rather frustrating, sealing the deal for me that the film was sadly an utter failure.
Anyhoo, "The Beaver" will probably be looked back on as one of the most interesting films of 2011 (and I think it deserves this), but "interesting" is not enough. Foster shows some directorial talent through some beautiful visuals, and Gibson is wonderful in the lead role, but "The Beaver" is simply a mess, with a concept that is just not believable enough, which really is a dam shame.
3/10
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