| The Beaver | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jodie Foster |
| Written by | Kyle Killen |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Hagen Bogdanski |
| Edited by | Lynzee Klingman |
| Music by | Marcelo Zarvos |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Summit Entertainment |
Release dates |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $21 million[2] |
| Box office | $7.3 million[2] |
The Beaver is a 2011psychological drama film[3] directed byJodie Foster and written byKyle Killen. It starsMel Gibson, Foster,Anton Yelchin, andJennifer Lawrence. Marking Gibson's and Foster's second collaboration since 1994'sMaverick, it follows Walter Black, a depressed executive, who hits rock-bottom when his wife kicks him out of the house. At his lowest point, he begins to use a beaver hand puppet to communicate with people and overcome his issues.
The Beaver premiered at theSXSW Film Festival on March 16, 2011 and was released in the United States on May 6, 2011 bySummit Entertainment. The film received mixed reviews from critics who praised Foster's direction and performances of the cast but found the premise absurd. However, a series of controversies and criticisms surrounding Gibson regarding his statements and battery case affected the film's business, and it was abox office bomb, grossing just $7.3 million against its $21 million budget.
Walter Black is a depressed CEO of Jerry Co., a toy company nearing bankruptcy. He is kicked out by his wife, to the relief of their elder son Porter. Walter moves into a hotel. After several suicide attempts, he develops an alternate personality represented by a beaver handpuppet found in the trash. He wears the puppet constantly, communicating solely by speaking as the beaver, which helps him to recover. He reestablishes a bond with his younger son Henry and then with his wife, although not with Porter. He also becomes successful again at work by creating a line of Mr. Beaver Building Kits for children.
Porter, who gets paid to write papers for schoolmates, is asked by Norah, whose brother has died, to write her graduation speech. He gets emotionally attached to Norah, feeling that she is repressing her desire to express herself regarding her brother's death, but his father's actions with the beaver puppet embarrass him. When Porter sprays "R.I.P. Brian" on a wall as an attempt to coax Norah to express her feelings about her brother, she is furious, and they are both arrested.
Walter's wife moves out of the house with the children because he lied to her about the puppet being part of a treatment plan monitored by his psychiatrist. She feels she can no longer communicate with her husband and that he is suffering from adissociative identity disorder, with the beaver taking him over.
Part of Walter's personality realizes what he has put his family through and wants to get rid of the beaver to get back together with his family, but the beaver 'resists'. Walter finally takes the puppet out of his life by cutting off his arm at the elbow with a circular saw. After surgery, he is equipped with a prosthetic hand and is placed in a psychiatric hospital.
Norah reconnects with Porter. She starts reading the speech he wrote, but stops and admits publicly that she did not write it herself. She switches to explaining the value of truth and the trauma caused to her by her brother's death some years previously. Porter realizes the value of his father and reunites with him at the hospital.
Walter Black becomes himself again and returns to a normal life.
Prior to production, the screenplay forThe Beaver toppedThe Black List in 2008.[5] On a budget of $21 million,[6]The Beaver was filmed inWestchester County, New York and New York City.[7] A portion of the movie was filmed atWhite Plains Senior High School in White Plains, New York.[citation needed] Filming was completed in November 2009.
Before Gibson was hired,Steve Carell andJim Carrey were both signed on to star at different stages of production.[8]
The Beaver had its world premiere at theSouth by Southwest film festival onMarch 16, 2011, where theLos Angeles Times reported that it was given "a relatively warm embrace".[9]
The film had a limited release in22 theaters on May 9, 2011.
Over its opening weekend, the film grossed $107,577.[10]Entertainment Weekly and several media outlets[11][12] reported that the film's box office performance was a "flop" with a haul of only $4,890 per theater against its production budget of $21 million (not including marketing costs).[13]Entertainment Weekly compared the box office gross ofThe Beaver against Mel Gibson's other most recent "box office failure", 2010'sEdge of Darkness—which debuted to a per-theater average of $5,615 at more than 3,000 locations—and the box office success of 2010'sBlack Swan which grossed a per-theater average of $88,863 in limited release at only 16 theaters.[14]The Beaver was the worst debut for a film directed by Foster.[15]
The distributorSummit Entertainment had originally planned for a wide release ofThe Beaver for the weekend of May 20; but, after the initial box office returns came in, the company changed course and decided to give the film a "limited art-house run".[6]Michael Cieply ofThe New York Times observed on June 5, 2011, that the film had cleared about $1 million, making it a certified "flop".[16] The film's director, Foster, said the film did not do well with American audiences because it was adramedy and "very often Americans are not comfortable with [that]".[17]
Before its release, much of the coverage focused on the unavoidable association between the protagonist's issues and Mel Gibson's own well-publicized personal and legal problems, including a conviction of battery of his ex-girlfriend in March.[18] Time wrote: "The Beaver is a somber, sad domestic drama featuring an alcoholic in acute crisis. Sound familiar, almost like a documentary? It’s hard to separate Gibson’s true-life story from what’s happening onscreen."[19]
The Beaver received mixed reviews from critics, with review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes reporting a score of 62% based on reviews from 185 critics and an average rating of 6.1/10. The consensus reads, "Jodie Foster's visual instincts and Mel Gibson's all-in performance sell this earnest, straightforward movie."[20]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[21]
Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "The Beaver is almost successful, despite the premise of its screenplay, which I was simply unable to accept."[22]