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Friday, May 6, 2011
MOVIE REVIEW
The Beaver
Tender Treatment Of
Depression, With Extreme Prejudice
Jodie Foster (left), the director and star of "The Beaver", on the film's set in
2009
with
co-star Mel Gibson (right).
Summit
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday, May 6, 2011
Full disclosure: given the comments I have made here about Mel Gibson over the
last ten months (see
here and
here),
I ventured into "The Beaver" -- made in 2009 before Mr. Gibson's personal
affairs exploded publicly -- with extreme prejudice against him both as a film
critic and as a member of John Q. Public. My prejudices were no greater
than some critics' prejudices presumably would be against, say, O.J. Simpson,
had he starred in a film before 1994 that was released after 1995.
Of course, each critic or audience member goes into any film carrying a measure
of some taint of life's experiences, bias or prejudice, which makes the reviewer
and the art project things onto each other that reveal more about the reviewer
than the subject itself. To say one doesn't bring this taint, even with an
open mind, is probably close to heresy.
That said, it took me more than an hour to separate my admittedly strong
personal reservations (to say the least) about Mr. Gibson the man from Mr.
Gibson the actor while watching Jodie Foster's latest film "The Beaver".
Ms. Foster's drama however, is much better than many will give it credit for.
At once an odd, surreal and occasionally marvelous film, "The Beaver" takes on
new meaning in light of Mr. Gibson's publicly-aired private troubles. The
actor pulls off a tricky and palpable performance as Walter Black, a New York
CEO who suffers from depression following the death of his youngest son.
Walter's release valve is the presence of a hand puppet he adopts and names The
Beaver, who shields Walter from himself and the pain of loss. The Beaver
dons an English cockney accent in the vein of Ray Winstone (with whom Mr. Gibson
appeared in last year's
"Edge Of Darkness") and has a ballpark
similarity to a 1980s British television puppet, one Roland Rat. Walter
functions exclusively through the Beaver, day and night, including on the job
and with Meredith (Ms. Foster), his wife of 20 years, and their children,
including teenage son Porter (Anton Yelchin) with whom he has a rocky
relationship.
"The Beaver" accomplishes a feat in sensitively treating the delicate subject of
depression and making it both thought-provoking and entertaining on the big
screen. Ms. Foster's film plays like satire, especially with a Matt Lauer
episode that reeks of Tom Cruise's infamous "you're so glib" moment -- minus the
comment. Mr. Cruise spoke several years ago with Mr. Lauer on television
about depression and of the illness not needing treatment, and his pointed
remarks about Brooke Shields echo in the episode in "The Beaver" by their
absence, though Ms. Foster's film seems to offer the Lauer moment as a
corrective answer to Mr. Cruise's insensitive remarks. (In a Premiere
magazine interview years ago Ms. Foster referenced Mr. Cruise in a way that
could not be perceived as positive, even though she didn't say anything negative
about him.)
In "The Beaver" the media response to Walter's plight is satirized.
There's the insanity
of the intense coverage of such a personal, isolating problem. There's the
convenient labeling of
someone that the world fails to understand as "insane" -- in order to
avoid exploring, laboring and addressing the issues that exist behind the
condition of depression.
It's impossible not to think about the travails of Mr. Gibson during the film,
which ironically magnifies how earnest and sincere "The Beaver" is. Mr.
Gibson is afforded the space to resonate in a role that may be closer to who he
really is than any other he has played before. In "The Beaver" Ms. Foster
allows her close friend what has been the obligatory self-sacrifice that has
been a staple of numerous Gibson films ("Lethal Weapon 2", "Braveheart", "The
Passion Of The Christ",
"Apocalypto" and "Edge Of Darkness".)
Mr. Gibson wrestles himself vigorously and puts his demons squarely on the line
in "The Beaver", which is comic but never funny. Walter is doomed and
tortured, and therefore must face a reckoning -- and has to atone. This
strain of self-punishment fits the theologies and positions that the public Mr.
Gibson has taken. Still, it takes a measure of guts to do what Mr. Gibson does
here. What looks foolish on the surface is more human in light of the
real-life implications, and in what the disease of depression -- which millions
of Americans suffer from in some form or another -- really does.
(I think of Colin Firth in
"A Single Man" during that film's attempted suicide
scene, one not played for laughs but nonetheless funny. Had Mr. Firth
behaved in the manner Mr. Gibson does during a scene in Ms. Foster's drama, the Oscar-winning Brit may have been
laughed out of the theater. By contrast, when the New York-born Mr. Gibson erupts it is
unnerving and not funny at all.)
Ms. Foster, who last teamed onscreen with Mr. Gibson in "Maverick" in 1994, brings a
tenderness to the film not only with her discreet direction of it but her performance
as Meredith, Walter's biggest advocate on screen and the director's strongest
off. Ms. Foster has for years consistently defended her star performer in the same
vein the late Elizabeth Taylor did the late Michael Jackson, when most of the
world scorned him and believed he molested children.
The weakest part of "The Beaver" is its parallel story about fathers and sons,
which grows a little saccharine despite a good performance by Anton Yelchin ("Alpha
Dog", "Charlie Bartlett",
"Star Trek".)
Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence ("Winter's
Bone") also does good work here as Norah, Porter's girlfriend,
who has suffered a loss of her own. There are aspects of this part of the
film that rings false, including the idea that Mr. Yelchin's character would be
able to maintain such poise and equilibrium during some of the most trying
moments we see. Some of the episodes involving the actors towards the
film's end feel truncated, as if to expediently close the film.
"The Beaver" tries hard to work, and most of it does. We struggle to
understand Walter and the film takes sometime to bring us into the fold.
"The Beaver" is not an outstanding film by any stretch, but it is a good one,
worth watching and contemplating. For many reasons, it will, if nothing
else, inspire plenty of discussion.
With: Riley Thomas Stewart, Zachary Booth, Michael Rivera, Cherry Jones, Kelly
Coffield Park.
"The Beaver" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association Of America for
mature thematic material, some disturbing content, sexuality and language
including a drug reference. The film's duration is one hour and 36 minutes.
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