The Beaver

Synopsis: Walter Black (Mel Gibson) is the CEO of a toy company. He is seriously depressed which is affecting his work and his family: wife Meredith (Jodie Foster), young son Henry (Riley Thomas Stewart) and teenage son, Porter (Anton Yelchin). After being kicked out by his wife, Walter drinks himself silly, attempts suicide, only to awake with a toy beaver puppet he had found firmly jammed on his hand. Amazingly, the puppet begins to speak, lambasting Walter for his psychological state. And so it is that Walter begins his road to recovery.

Wow! What a weird premise this film has. It is so oddball that one must really admire Foster and Gibson for daring to make it. And yet there is a lot of charm and pathos to this story, which could be viewed as either a bit wacko or an interesting psychological study of inner selves and possible alternate therapies.

I’ve always admired Foster as an actress, and while she is sympathetic and her usual strong self as Meredith, she really manages to wring excellent performances out of the rest of her cast, especially Gibson and the young boys. Despite Gibson’s real life personal meltdown, occasional reprehensible behaviour and Hollywood’s opprobrium towards him, he’s always been a top actor, and this film proves no different. To be able to really convince us, the audience, that his inner self is speaking through this ridiculous toothy puppet is quite some feat. And in such an accent to boot – a Cockney Michael Caine style of voice. God only knows why writer Kyle Killen chose this voice, but Gibson’s skill in executing it is admirable.

At heart The Beaver is a story of family troubles and family reconciliation. While young son Henry is delighted to have his dad back and engaging with him, albeit through a hand-puppet, older son Porter is horrified, ashamed, and continues to feel alienated from his father. But Porter has his own issues, as he takes money to write essays on behalf of other students, especially spunky cheerleader, Norah (Jennifer Lawrence), who is also in denial about something in her past. The relationship between these two, a sort of side-plot, is sensitively handled and touches on other psychological issues which beset families.

Several scenes are quite poignant, especially one where Meredith and Walter go on a “date”, but Meredith insists that Walt leave the Beaver persona behind. The poor man reverts instantly to a quivering mess which leads to a series of rather dramatic actions in an attempt to break free from what seems to have become the beaver’s control over him. Other scenes are downright funny, especially one hot sex scene, and another involving actual physical conflict between the two personae within Walter.

At times the film veers into “cheesy” territory – with the characteristically American fondness for hugs, tears, and too-easy resolutions all round. It was this that made The Beaver a little disappointing for me, as I thought a film with such a wild premise might have a wilder conclusion. However, simply seeing the absurd contrast between the ludicrous puppet and a man in serious emotional distress, along with a fine bunch of supporting cast makes for a fun, off-beat viewing experience with something serious to say about the black dog (or is it beaver?) of depression.

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