Lethal Beaver
Walter Black (Mel Gibson - Edge of Darkness) was a successful businessman, a loving husband as well as a father of two boys. But then depression struck and as he starts to spend his days sleeping his wife, Meredith (Jodie Foster - Nim's Island), finally has enough and kicks him out. Depressed, drunk and in a hotel room Walter attempts to take his own life only to be stopped by a beaver puppet which he has on his hand at the time. It leads to Walter getting to grips with his life but not as himself but as The Beaver, communicating with everyone through this puppet. And things go well for a time but eventually the puppet starts to cause problems for Walter.
This honestly doesn't happen very often, I think I can count on one hand the number of times it has happened, but having watched "The Beaver" I do not know how I feel about it. It isn't that there was anything I particularly hated about the movie and there was nothing which really struck me as being exceptional. Nope I honestly am having difficulty processing how this movie made me feel as it deals with the subject of depression in an amusing yet not comical way, walking right up to the edge of being wrong yet at the same time making some insightful statements about depression, coping mechanisms and also in the case of Walter's eldest son a fear of following in his father's foot steps.
What I am going to say is that "The Beaver" is a movie of strong performances with Anton Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence working well together in a subplot which actually highlights Lawrence's talents given the right material. But whilst Jodie Foster deserves praise for both her acting and direction of the movie it is Mel Gibson who delivers this captivating performance as he gives the puppet beaver this personality which is clearly Walter's subconscious thoughts, gruff and controlling. It is a performance which highlights how good Mel Gibson is as an actor as he manages to deliver those looks which show the pain in Walter's eyes yet then transforms into the almost comedy of The Beaver.
What this all boils down to is that "The Beaver" is one of those movies which I am going to have to say you will need to watch to make your own mind up on as it has still left me unsure of how I feel about it.
