Beaverheart

email this story
read comments (25)
post a comment

Jodie Foster's decision to cast Mel Gibson in the lead role in The Beaver -- a quirky, Napoleon Dynamite-ish dramedy about a gloomy, verging-on-suicidal middle-aged guy who finds rejuvenation when he adds a second personality in the form of a beaver hand-puppet -- is inspired. I'm saying this because Gibson's behavior in recent years has persuaded me that (a) he's a bit of a loon and (b) is therefore in some ways a kind of real-life incarnation of the "Walter" character in Kyle Killen's script, which I read last year.

star Mel Gibson, director-costar Jodie Foster

The role is essentially that of an eccentric angst-ridden kookoo bird, and if Gibson has done one thing in recent years he's proven repeatedly that he's at the very least familiar with this aspect of the human condition. Or at the very least with having to constantly swat away demons and struggle with manic impulses.

Gibson's nutter essence is the reason why his most memorable all-time performance was as Martin Riggs, the pop-eyed, heebie-jeebie, verging-on-suicidal cop in the first Lethal Weapon (i.e., a character that was softened up and copped-out-on in the LW sequels.) It's why he's an intense Catholic and why he's had alcohol problems -- two obsessions or behavior patterns that go hand-in-hand. (I'm alluding to the syndrome of people who can't handle life's anxieties on top of their own craziness so they need either booze or Christ to get them through the day.) It's why he's so hyper in interviews. It's why he looked like a Bedlam inmate when he wore that huge John Brown beard when he was shooting Apocalypto. It's why he called that female cop "sugar tits" when he was drunk at the Malibu poilce station.

I'm not saying Gibson is incapable of acting rationally or smiling or being polite and charming at parties and all that. Obviously he is. I'm saying that he's obviously got a madhouse going on inside, and the occasional pop-throughs are why the crazy-Mel image has taken hold.

Foster will direct The Beaver as well as costar as Gibson's wife. Variety's Sharon Swart is reporting that Foster "boarded the project and brought it to Gibson, with whom she co-starred in 1994's Maverick. Anonymous Content's Steve Golin and Keith Redmon will produce the film which wil cost around $18 opr $19 million. Producers are pushing for a September start date in New York. A studio could pick up the project or it could go the indie route, as Golin did with Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel."

Excerpt from Kyle Killen's The Beaver.

Wax Hard<< previous | next >>Mid-'70s Haircuts

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 10, 2009 at 6:36 AM

comment #1

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

Far more interesting than Steve Carell and Jay Roach.

Mad Mel is ace. I wish he was Hannibal in the A-Team movie.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at July 10, 2009 8:22 AM

comment #2

actionmam says ...

Not the only kind of beaver Jodie Foster lives for

Posted by actionmam at July 10, 2009 8:24 AM

comment #3

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Wells to Actionmam: Oh, come on! Every time I run a story or an item-thought a sector of the HE readership always manages to drag things down to the level of schoolyard discourse. Half of those Emma Watson posts yesterday....jeez. Writing doesn't have to coarse and lewd to be interesting. It would be nice if things were a little classier around here. Think about what people will say about you when you're dead and gone.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at July 10, 2009 8:30 AM

comment #4

Bilge says ...

I think it's cool for Crazy Catholic Mel to be starring in a film directed by a Lesbian Atheist, one for whom he clearly has a lot of respect and affection. I mean that. Cause he could have taken the easy way out and just made an action movie or something.

Posted by Bilge at July 10, 2009 8:35 AM

comment #5

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

The AICN headline is "Mel Gibson May Stick His Hand In Jodie Foster's BEAVER!!"

I laughed.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/41654

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at July 10, 2009 8:36 AM

comment #6

Michael says ...

Mel Gibson has always been good-natured at poking fun at himself.

Posted by Michael at July 10, 2009 8:43 AM

comment #7

Sean says ...

I haven't read The Beaver, but from what I know about it, it is to the gadflies' collective shame if none of them suggested this, esp. if Foster's attachment has been known for awhile. It really sounds like the perfect vehicle for someone who needs a little audience rehab.

Posted by Sean at July 10, 2009 8:47 AM

comment #8

snoop says ...

This elevated this project in my mind tenfold, and I say this as a Carrell fan.

Posted by snoop at July 10, 2009 8:58 AM

comment #9

Myles says ...

What did you expect from Actionman, Jeff? We're talking about a guy who watches Michael Bay movies with his pants around his ankles.

Posted by Myles at July 10, 2009 9:07 AM

comment #10

COCO says ...

I like Mel....when he directs....it makes for an
interesting film...as for the Jodie film...
he can do this....takes the place of the Stooge
movie....he should be in that one also.....meh.....
Baby Ruth anyone?

Posted by COCO at July 10, 2009 9:11 AM

comment #11

crazynine says ...

"It would be nice if things were a little classier around here. Think about what people will say about you when you're dead and gone."

Great idea. When can you start?

Posted by crazynine at July 10, 2009 9:18 AM

comment #12

actionmam says ...

WELLS it is clear you were jerking it to the Watson clip also (only in a veiled way).

You clearly have a fetish for younger English girls (hence the raves early this year about the 1960s english school girl movie)

Not that there is anything wrong with that

Posted by actionmam at July 10, 2009 9:24 AM

comment #13

KC says ...

Count me as another Carell fan who likes this waaaay better. Nice to see Foster directing again, too

Posted by KC at July 10, 2009 9:29 AM

comment #14

KC says ...

Also, AICN should have been destroyed and the earth beneath its servers salted when they had some headline about one of their middle-aged neckbeard correspondents "double-teaming" Emily Blunt with reviews of two of her movies

Posted by KC at July 10, 2009 9:32 AM

comment #15

MilkMan says ...

I kept it classy, Jeff. You have no idea how vulgar I can get. Last night I wrote a pornographic short piece of fiction about one a Cuban man, who having been exiled and dropped off in Miami during the Mariel Boat Drop back in 1980, finds work as a gardener for a rich family and has an "affair" with all three of the family's youngest daughter, Chelsea, who goes to Dade County Community College by day and works at a Medi-Weed joint by night. Plenty of nasty talk and dead-eyed sex. Here's a sample:

CHELSEA: Is it too tight for you?
RAMON: Yes.

And later:

CHELSEA: Oh my god. Be nice to me. You have to be nice to me.
RAMON: That's good for you not so good for me.
CHELSEA: Oh my god.

Posted by MilkMan at July 10, 2009 9:56 AM

comment #16

Stringer Bell says ...

Myles: ActionMAM wrote that comment, not ActionMAN.

Posted by Stringer Bell at July 10, 2009 10:04 AM

comment #17

Stringer Bell says ...

Bad lighting on Jodie in the photo.

If that was Streisand, she would hunt the photographer down and stomp on his/her head.

Posted by Stringer Bell at July 10, 2009 10:05 AM

comment #18

Circumvrent says ...

Gibson's kind of old for the part as written, but I'm sure they're working on that as we speak. The real question is whether Foster has enough whimsy, or the ability to go surreal, that the script has.

Posted by Circumvrent at July 10, 2009 10:27 AM

comment #19

raygo says ...

Jodie is and always has been a class act. I hope she works til she drops.

Posted by raygo at July 10, 2009 10:58 AM

comment #20

stillwater says ...

The script is fanfuckingtastic, and Gibson is inspired casting. The only thing that gives my pause is Foster directing...Little Man Tate and Home for the Holidays were fine for what they were, but a real director could have a field day with this movie. Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, etc...

Posted by stillwater at July 10, 2009 11:21 AM

comment #21

Monument says ...

Too true Stringer. I have a cinematographer friend who offered me some career advice, tip number one was: Don't ever take a job filming Streisand. He said it was, by far, his worst experience behind the camera.

Posted by Monument at July 10, 2009 11:42 AM

comment #22