Truthful and Confronting, “The Beaver” is a lot more than a two dimensional puppet

Director: Jodie Foster

Cast: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Lawrence and Anton Yelchin.

Release Date: July 21, 2011

When Kylie Killen first penned the screenplay for The Beaver, studio executives hoped that this would be one of 2011 biggest comedies, with Steve Carrell set to play a man who adopts a puppet beaver to help him recover from a severe case of depression.

However, Jodie Foster saw more to this story than a two dimensional comedy. She believed that Killen’s at times comical depiction of depression was largely tragic in nature as emphasised the desperate and confronting measures people can go to in order to distance themselves from reality. By opting for a more balanced approach, Foster turned a more-than-likely-flop into a highly compiling drama about the tortuous, comic and confronting issues that not only defines depression but life as well.

Taking over from Carrell, Mel Gibson plays Walter Black, CEO to a large toy company that is going bankrupt, husband to an unhappy wife (Foster) and father to a resentful son (Yelchin). Walter Black is a severely depressed man, living a life that appears completely drained of any form of happiness. That is until he meets ‘The Beaver,’ a discarded puppet who provides Walter with an escape from reality by offering to take over his life. But what value does happiness have if it is not really you who is living it?

The Beaver owes a great deal of its success to the outstanding talents of its director and lead actor. Foster’s masterful direction allows the film to soar as not only an insightful exploration of depression but also of the personas people create in order to disconnect from the reality of their existence. Her balanced focus on the stories of both Walter and his son Porter (Yelchin) illustrates how the issues facing depression suffers can be mirrored within people from all walks of life, while emphasising an important point about the hereditary issues associated with such a condition. While the love story that pursues between Porter and head cheerleader Nora (Lawrence) is at times a little cliched, Foster utilises these lighter moments as a nice reminded that life can still be a beautiful thing regardless of current circumstances.

However, this is Mel Gibson’s movie, with an incredible return-to-form performance that far surpasses anyone else in the cast. Through his engrossing characterisations of both Walter and the Beaver, Gibson illustrates his true professionalism and talent as a lead actor.  If it were not for his career detracting public antics you could definitely expect some awards season recognition.

Although this is not a perfect film, due to a number of timing inconsistencies, The Beaver just seems to work regardless. Through its commitment to a realistic story, the film encourages the audience to not only appreciate the confronting issues associated with depression but also the universal importance of embracing your own reality regardless of how harsh or unbearable it may seem. For it is only through understanding who we are that we can ever really find happiness.

Well the Sydney Film Festival has officially begun for 2011 and has provided a rather mixed bag of films from all around the world, some of which I have had the pleasure (and displeasure) of seeing over the past five days. However, it all started under rather cold circumstances last Wednesday night at the State Theatre, in the heart of Sydney’s CBD.

Below I have attached the YouTube video that I made for the UTS Vertigo website from footage that Carla Efstratiou (Vertigo editor) and myself filmed from the red carpet. Australia’s finest talents from both the screen and (mainly) television made there way into the State Theatre, on this exceptionally cold evening, for the Australian premiere of Joe Wright’s new film Hanna (2011), staring Eric Bane, Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett. We were lucky enough to catch some of the night’s big stars including Miss Blanchett (from a great distance), Academy Award Winner Jane Campion, Sigrid Thornton and the cast of Showcase’s hit Australian miniseries Cloud Street. While the carpet was an interesting experience, we were unfortunately not able to see the film (which from early and international reviews is said to be a well construct film from a rather period-piece conservative director). However, I have made my way to a number of recent media screenings since the festivals commencement and have found myself walking away, both times, feeling very different emotions.

On Thursday (9/6/2011) I was lucky enough to be at the world premiere of the first Chinese/NSW feature film collaboration 33 Postcards (2011), starring Guy Pearce, Claudia Karvan, Lincoln Lewis and Chinese newcomer Zhu Lin. For a film I was very excited about, I walked away feeling incredibly embarrassed and angry at the type/quality of films Australia is distributing around the world. As you will read in my upcoming review, this is not a film I would recommend to anyone and I am deeply disappointed that such a creative and original premise could be so poorly handled and acted by over using cliche characters and soap opera-esque events. This was not the good start I wanted for my festival viewing season.

However, last night’s screening of Jodi Foster’s new movie The Beaver (2011), starring Mel Gibson (in a return to form performance), Jennifer Lawrence and Foster herself, has restored my faith in this year’s offerings. This was a film I loved! While not perfect it left me profoundly emotional and it was a journey that I was really glad to have taken. The cast were superb, especially Gibson who gave so much depth and credibility to a very troubled character. A top notch film and a definite must see for 2011 (Review to come as well).

But there is still so much more to see over the next week, starting with tomorrow’s documentary screening of Project Nim (2011), from the Academy Award winning team behind Man On Wire (2008), and Terrence Mallick’s Palm d’Or winner Tree of Life (2011) on Tuesday night. So stay tuned as I bring the latest news, reviews and footage from all (that I can get) of this year’s Sydney Film Festival.