The Beaver Script Review

Published by Jeff Leins on: September 26th, 2009

15 years after Maverick, Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson are reuniting on The Beaver, a project written by newcomer Kyle Killen that started a bidding war.  The script topped the “Black List” last year as one of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood and, after a talent shuffle that included Steve Carell and Jim Carrey, Gibson settled on the lead under the direction of Ms. Foster for Summit Entertainment.

Walter Black (Gibson) is a vacant, perpetually depressed man in his mid-40’s.  He’s tried every form of therapy to brighten his mood, including pills, drum circles, self help novels, and hypnosis.  His slump has brought the company he oversees to the brink of bankruptcy and cost him his family, who casts him out as a poor influence.  A night of liquor, sleeping pills, and “Growing Pains” tumbles until he’s lying on his back after a failed suicide attempt.

At this pivotal moment Walter’s subconscious splits and an alternate personality manifests in a beaver puppet with a “crisp British accent.”  It takes a conversation with his puppeted hand for Walter to pull himself out of a spiraling depression and turn his life around.

Through his surrogate, The Beaver, Walter reignites a relationship with his wife Meredith (played by Foster), bonds with his youngest son Henry, and revitalizes the company.  The breakthrough reversal seems triumphant at first until Walter is depicted as retreating further from reality.  It took an inanimate object to breathe life into his existence, but slowly he’s becoming less a part of it.

Walter’s teenage son Porter (played by Anton Yelchin) is terrified of becoming his father even before the stuffed woodland creature emerges.  He records behavioral similarities in a notebook and punishes himself when showing any signs of heredity.  Meanwhile, Porter runs a business charging his classmates to write assignments in their voice, essentially helping others pretend to be something they’re not.  This as he falls for a cheerleader hiding behind her own facade (Jennifer Lawrence).

In his spare time Porter repeatedly bangs his head against the bedroom wall in frustration, trying to escape his increasingly dysfunctional family.  It’s a strange act of desperation, but in the context of beaver puppets and British accents it doesn’t seem so ridiculous.  At the same time, Meredith struggles with Walter to let her in.

The brilliance of this script is complex plot elements playing out in tandem.  This is as much Walter’s story as it is Porter’s, and their inverted paths mirror the fractured personality of the protagonist.  Their fates rise and fall, mimicking each other’s happiness before ultimately colliding in a touching father and son moment.

Killen’s script is self-reflexive, acknowledging the initial shock of a man addressing his emotions through a puppet but, like The Beaver’s slick execution, Walter’s story inspires beyond the method in his madness.  It’s Lars and the Real Girl with more imagination, insight, and parallel plotting, and I enjoyed that film.

The first two acts establish a balance you almost have to witness to believe, which is the trickiest aspect of its adaptation.  It’s an eccentric tone that makes the wild third act by comparison seem only natural.  There’s plenty going on here, but it will rely on Gibson’s ability to emote simultaneously vocally and physically and Foster’s adherence to the unique style.  I’m curious to see how it plays out, but it has the potential to be bizarrely great.