The Beaver - 2011

Mel Gison, Jodie Foster

Jennifer Lawrence, Anton Yelchin

Jodie Foster wins again with another tragicomic lighthearted serious drama.  If you find that statement convoluted, it’s because the film conjures up all of those things, yet is itself a single whole piece.  Much in the tradition of Little Man Tate, you cannot take the facts as facts, and seriously, however, the story left me personally with quite a bit of hope, even though in the end our hero father/CEO/puppet-master ended up in an institution.  It proved to be that what he really wanted was more important than his infliction.  What he wanted was more potent than a sometimes malevolent, possessive Beaver.

Mel Gibson was so good.  The native accent was spot on of course, a natural pick for Mel as an alternate voice for his Beaver voice, which consumes the bulk of the film anyway.  He managed somehow to upstage everyone, even Jodi, which she judiciously allowed, in fact purposefully gave to him “on stage”.

   

Jodi’s directorial skills have been sharpened in so many ways, and she has developed her own style, which is highly effective.  She knows how to share and give screen time, how to handle a second story and tertiary characters, and top actors.  Jodi of course was raised in the business, and she knows her way around, so I would expect no less at this point.

This one has so many good feelings about it, despite the undergirding dark content, which in my estimation is one of the best ways to handle a dark subject like this.  People who need hope from this crippling affliction of depression need light and effectively meaningful perspective.  She delivered.

   

The use of the contrasting second story of the son was a perfect story device, and carries the theme, in fact mirrors it, from another angle.  The vulnerability of youth and beauty and intelligence, “top of the class”, but without a real clue, is exactly the dilemma that the father finds himself in.  Both our CEO dad and our Valedictorian cheerleader find themselves needing a voice to express what they really feel.  He uses a puppet, and so does she, a paid one.

Put this one on the must rent list for this season, if you haven't seen it.

**** 4 stars.  Some slightly cheesy predictability, but not enough to distract.  Easy on the language and the eyes, good thematic material for young adults as well and mid-lifers.  Calls on us to love and care for the one next to us while we have them.  No overtly religious content, simply a moral story.
Stars Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, the highly versatile and busy-now Jennifer Lawrence, the newer and fantastic face of Anton Yelchin, great for his subdued style in this one.  He's been even busier than Jennifer it seems with 5 film in post right now.  Yikes, go to bed man.