Limacher Low Down: I’m not going to lie and say I was THRILLED to watch a movie with Mel Gibson in it, especially the way he’s been acting the past few years; BUT he delivers his best performance in YEARS if not his career. Jodie Foster directed this movie, and she must have seen something left in Mel to give him a chance with this role. This film had such a diverse way of presenting itself and provided such a great story; it was something very eye opening to me, and when the credits rolled I was pleasantly surprised with the movie I had just watched.
“The Beaver” is the story of Walter Black (Mel Gibson) and how depression has slowly taken everything he once valued in his life away from him. His wife Meredith (Jodie Foster) no longer loves him, his oldest son Porter (Anton Yelchin) writes notes to himself of things he has in common with his father to correct them simply because he hates his father, and his youngest son Henry (Riley Thomas Stewart) hardly communicates with anyone. Walter gets kicked out of his house by Meredith, his once thriving toy company is close to going out of business, and he has no one to turn to, or so he thinks. When throwing away things of little consequence in his life, Walter discovers something he never really thought of having any value before, a beaver puppet.
After a wicked bender Walter awakes to the beaver puppet on his hand telling him how shitty his life is, and what he needs to do to change it. Walter now starts living his life through the beaver puppet, which coincidentally has an Australian accent. Walter, via the beaver, starts to turn his life around. The company is starting to do better, his family has somewhat started to accept him again, and things are looking up. The way this is presented leaves the viewer curious as to what is really going on, and how things will continue with a man who does EVERYTHING with a damn puppet on his arm.
While Walter is getting better we also have the side story of Porter who is wise beyond his years who has a little “business” in the school. Kids know him to be able to write papers in “their own words” for a hefty sum. Porter then gets approached by the class Valedictorian, and hottest girl in the school, Norah (Jennifer Lawrence). Norah requests the special services of Porter to help her write something she cannot quite seem to write herself. Porter doesn’t know how to react to this, but finally decides to get to know Norah to better understand how she might write something. We now have two growing stories in the same movie; a man who uses a beaver puppet to speak for himself, and his son who has the talent to speak for others. This side story has a very dramatic appeal to it, and doesn’t take anything away from the movie. When watching it you start to wonder about the family dynamic and how this all takes shape.
Walter finds himself not being able to speak for himself without the use of “The Beaver” and when he attempts to he returns to his old ways once again. The way Gibson pulls this off is something unique and special to watch. Porter also finds himself having growing problems of his own that soon begin to spiral out of control. The way the story continues to develop and the dialogue draws the spectator more and more into the movie. Everything that happens comes to a great climax and really adds something to the movie. People in the theater were reacting to a drama the way I had never heard people react before; it was quite special for that alone.
I will say that all the acting, the story, and dialogue gives this movie a special feeling. The fact it has humor in the beginning mixed with dramatic elements throughout the shows the talent that everyone involved delivered on set. The only problem I have with this movie is that the somewhat “climactic” ending came a little too early for me. The fact there are two different stories following Walter and Porter also takes a little something away from the movie as well. The two stories don’t really mesh together all that well, but at the same time they needed to be there for character development. When all is said and done, “The Beaver” delivers something unexpected, and will keep you talking for days (if not longer) about all the little nuances of the overall package.
