Le complexe du castor

I'd give this movie a full ten if not for confusion over the "weighted average" system in which IMDb supposedly disregards a lot of extreme highs or lows. And speaking of highs and lows, who better than a bi-polar actor to not only accept a stigmafied role of someone with a mental disorder but also to get past that and offer the meat and potatoes of entertainment as well? Full disclosure: I am on Team Mel when it comes to an ex girlfriend making headlines with her personal life with reckless disregard for the personal and professional toll; an overkill gesture followed-up ultimately by withdrawal of charges. . .

I won't get into debates over context and word choices in someone's private conversations or during a fit of rage. But others like to, and perhaps for that reason I was only one of about 21 people in the late showing of The Beaver opening night at the Varsity in Toronto, cinema 8. Apparently the VIP cinema there had a screening that started 20 minutes earlier, but I don't know how that or earlier screenings were attended. I'm hoping the movie does better. Even with a small crowd, the audience I was in responded with laughter where appropriate, and the atmosphere was often charged with anxious energy.

Jodie Foster is very dear in her own performance, and her directing choices don't falter. Mel gives glimpses of his goofy persona and one can speculate about which bits of whimsy might have been his contributions, but he also lets us dislike the character a bit or the condition he suffers and the film goes to some dark places. Nobody in the theatre dared laugh at the point that is most drastic and also anxiety inducing. In someone else' hands this film could easily be a TV Movie of the Week.

The woman who played the Sheriff in Signs is again Mel's confidant in The Beaver for the half of the story involving his business. Anton Yelchin (the new Scotty in Star Trek) is impressively grounded even as he suffers through some of his father's inherited symptoms and those typical of teens anyway.

If you are poisoned against Mel, I'm not going to say go see it but I'll go out on a limb and suggest that one of the opening sequences where he is at his lowest ebb might be especially entertaining for people who hate him and there is a certain gallows humour that might allow you to relax your guard. The daring premise and loving execution of the film from everyone involved is a nice mix and the film deserves a better fate than it is likely to get with gossips fanning the flame of scandal.

"Everyone loves a train wreck, especially one they're not in." - The Beaver

I know people are clogging the box office lines for Thor this weekend, and I haven't heard anything negative about that movie but I'm glad I saw The Beaver and that I can honestly say it is more than just weird; it is actually also out on a limb and inspiring without feeling like a cheat. That's my two cents anyway.

I loved this movie. It found it sad that the timing of his personal implosion over-shadowed the importance and quality of this movie, but I loved it. All of it. Is it an Academy Award Nominee? No, but I'll recommend it to all who ask about it.

I wish his personal life had not unraveled to such a degree....who would want that for anyone. I wish Hollywood and the press wouldn't have exploited every last second of it, but such is the shallow world of both. I found it particularly fascinating and ironic that he was booted from the cast of The Hangover II because none of the actors wanted to support his woman abusing ways.....and then they brought back Mike Tyson (a wife beater and rapist)for a recurring role. Why would one be surprised by the shallowness of H-town.

Rent this. Besides the fact that everyone deserves a second chance, it's a good movie.

Give it to Mel Gibson. The man can act. He is one of the best and does not disappoint.

I rented this simply because I couldn't take the curiosity any longer. I had no idea what it was about.

Every performance here is solid and believable and deep.

The movie is about depression. So don't be surprised if you are left feeling ... depressed. I was. The movie concluded with an upbeat feel, but left me yearning for more.

This is one of those movies that, well, you watched it; you knew you had to - kind of like Schindler's List - then you put it away to never visit it again because you know the emotional pain that it delivers.

It really sounds to me like Mel Gibson has modelled the voice and the accent for the puppet on Ray Winstone which shouldn't surprise me considering they have worked together in the past. However, top marks to Mel for that one because you really could be forgiven for thinking Ray did a voice-over for the puppet.

In general this is not the usual style of film I would watch but I really must say I was most pleasantly surprised at how engaging it was. For me at least, this was down to the Beaver (yes I realise how that sounds) but the remarkable thing is that I forgot it was a puppet controlled and voiced by Mel. I really began to see it as a complete separate character and it just gave the film whole other dimension.

Performances from Gibson and Foster were excellent (as you would expect). Their acting was totally spot on, never once seeming over the top or forced. Jodie Foster has done a sterling job on the directors chair skilfully taking the viewer on a journey in what I would have thought not a particularly easy film to direct. There are some humorous moments but this is not a comedy. You will occasionally laugh, and at times you will tense up during some of Gibsons darker moments. But that is a job well done from all.

This is certainly not a film for everyone but if you like a movie that's choc full to the brim with the human element, excellent acting and directing then I really would recommend it.

The Beaver is the story of Walter Black, a hopelessly depressed individual who finds the way out in a puppet that speaks for him. He finds a beaver puppet in a dumpster and decides to take it with him to the hotel room where he get's drunk and tries to commit a suicide. After the first attempt fails he climbs on the edge of the balcony and is about to jump, but than, all the sudden, the beaver speaks out and brings him to his senses. The idea, as simple and dull as it may sound, is actually quite good and interesting when you think about it. Unforunatelly, the script lacks a great deal in structure and character development which is ultimately why the movie is not nearly as good as it could've and should've been.

Jennifer Lawrence and Anthon Yelchin are both brilliant in the movie and a big talent is really visible in their performances. Unfortunately, while Yelchin is obviously very, very talented, i just can't see the leading man in him. His charisma is, i think, really not on the same level with his talent. However, that being said, i do not doubt it that both of them are gonna be Academy Award winners one day. Jennifer Lawrence is already almost there. With one nomination behind her, the second one is surely gonna come. And i think that one day, with the right choice of roles, she could even be Hollywood's best leading lady. She definitely has what it takes for it.

However, all the good performances in this movie really fall to water compared to the one of Mel Gibson. I don't know if he's acting or is it him self in the movie, and honestly i don't care. All i know is that he's brilliant. If only the character had more to offer, i'm sure the role would be remembered for a long, long time. But even though the movie fails at certain levels, Gibson's performance was definitely worthy of a much larger recognition. If you ask me, the reason he wasn't at the Oscars this year, if not as a winner than definitely as a nominee, is the fresh new scandal that happened in his life. And that's, i think, unfair because he is an actor and he should be judged as an actor and not as a human being. In fact, i don't think anyone can judge him as a human being since none of us knows him like one. The only way we (the audience), and the critics, can know him is as an actor. As Mad Max, William Wallace, Walter Black and so on.... As far as this role goes, at my opinion, he was definitely robbed of all the recognition he well deserved for the portrayal of Walter Black. An amazing performance that was unfairly overlooked by the Academy's voters.

The weakest link as far as the acting goes is, and i can't believe i'm actually saying this, Jodie Foster. It could be because she was busy working as a director on the movie, but her performance, even though good, is really not on the same level as those of Yelchin and Lawrence, and needless to say, as the one of Mel Gibson. Another thing i felt was very weak is the score. Well, it's not bad, it's good. It just doesn't fit this film. It's too melodic and.... Italian. I just don't think it's right for this kind of story. The score that this movie desperately needed should've been something like the one from American Beauty. That would fit great! Slow, sad, tragic... It would've been great!

I really wish the script was longer. And simply because you can't build so many complicated characters in ninety pages. Not convincingly anyway. And especially in a movie like this one which was supposed to be a deep story that deals with a very important subject. What i really like about the movie is the feeling of a solution circling around all the time, but staying unreachable to everyone. Like for example, Walter's wife showing him pictures of their family back when everyone was happy hoping that he'll see some hope or inspiration in it.... and so on... which he fails at doing. That could've been a real good description of the state he, and the depressed people in general, are usually in. But, once again, the script fails terribly in structure and it prevents it's character's from going in whatever direction they were supposed to go. Truth be told, i don't think it's the writer's fault so much as it is Hollywood's. Producer's rarely allow the movie to be a piece of art these day's, even when some movies like this one are meant to be just it. I wouldn't be surprised if the first draft was way better than the one they made the movie on.

To conclude my review, i wasn't bored, but i was definitely not blown away either. The only thing that was great about the movie is acting. Gibson's especially. Maybe it's because i had really high hopes for this movie, but i was a bit disappointed. It's a good movie, but i expected it to be great!!!! It's definitely worth a watch, but i wouldn't put my hopes into being left speechless.