Review of The Beaver (2011) by Gavin S — 17 Jan 2012
I rented this one on a 'what have I got to lose?' feeling from the library; if it was that bad, I'd just turn it off and watch something else. Happily, it's not bad at all, and in fact, it's quite good (Assuming you can look past the hand puppet Mel Gibson is wearing for nearly the whole movie, and if you can watch a Mel Gibson movie and set aside his personal issues/prejudices).
Gibson, in fact, is the best possible choice to play Walter, a man who's wasting away due to Depression. Kudos to Jodie Foster for making the choice to cast him, and for making an un-flinching film about depression that doesn't have a nice bowtie ending where it all works out for the best.
It's funny and surreal in moments, but if you get past the beaver, then you'll be in for a well-meaning movie that looks at depression and what it can do to families and people. Great performances from Foster as Gibson's wife, Anton Yelchin as their elder son, and Jennifer Lawrence as the valedictorian cheerleader at his high school.
(Yes Valedictorian Cheerleader....that's it's own joke.) The best line of the movie, "Sometimess it's a lie, those six words people always say to you 'Everything is going to be alright' because it's not.
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This review of The Beaver (2011) was written by Gavin S on 17 Jan 2012.
The Beaver has generally received positive reviews.
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