Le Complexe du Castor

I was looking forward to Mel Gibson because I think - no matter what kind of excesses he has - that he is an excellent actor, one of those who deserve an Oscar, but probably will never receive it. He didn't disappoint me. His interaction with the television, where an episode of the classic series "Kung Fu" was playing, is simply perfect and I had to laugh. That was the only line that amused me. This got me hooked and I was just waiting to see how the film would develop further. Mel Gibson is definitely the biggest asset of the film. Jodie Foster knew who to cast in each role. It also showed in the role of the son, brilliantly portrayed by Anton Yelchin, and in the role of his friend/girlfriend, played by Jennifer Lawrence from "Hunger Games". In "Mr. Beaver", she proved to me that she was not chosen for the hungry series just because of her face. The film has a different problem than the acting. The screenplay is a bit lacking. The main idea is the connection between Gibson and the stuffed beaver. It works perfectly, but everything else, especially the story of the son and his girlfriend, is just filler that the director tried to stretch to the classic 90 minutes. Without the performances and some interesting ideas (the stuffed beaver, the hole in the wall, graffiti), the film is quite uninteresting. So I give the rating mainly for the great performances and for the ending, which is exactly in the spirit that I can tolerate. No amazing happy ending, but a nicely harsh ending that suggests things could be better. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/07/happy-feet-2-bobr-cislo-4-musketyri.html (23/02/2013)

I was very beautifully moved and entertained at the same time. Thank you, Mel Gibson, thank you, Jodie Foster, thank you, Marcelo Zarvos... But, in particular, thank you, Beaver. (12/11/2011)

Does Mel's beaver like to wash his ears? It's hard to say, but otherwise this beaver is truly "real life" (not just Gibson's). Sad yet beautiful; I did not dislike a single character. (21/08/2011)

A cautious yes for the scene where a mad Gibson fights with the puppet of the beaver on his hand, like Ash in Evil Dead. That said, if it wasn’t for the fairly funny title and premise (which isn’t that funny in the end, quite the opposite), Jodie’s new film wouldn’t be very attractive. The Beaver is a professionally executed film in every aspect, but the emotions never arrive. It’s quite dry… (15/08/2011)

Gibson is great. The Beaver may have a couple of faults, but the idea behind it is great and pretty original, in fact. I was even pleasantly surprised in a couple of places how far Jodie dared to go. Toward the end, the result seemed to be a little unsure what the lesson of this should be, or how to resolve the whole problem, but because no universal solution exists, the screenplay jumps into classic father-son mode. So much more could have been gotten out of this, but even so, this is a very exceptional picture. (02/09/2011)