Mel Gibson’s comeback role is actually more affecting than it has any right to be. This, after his estrangement from Hollywood following his anti-Semantic remarks a while ago, proves that he still has the emotional gravitas to pull off a serious role, pretty much wearing his heart on his sleeve in one of his finest performances yet.
He plays Walter Black, a depressed alcoholic who has no idea how to communicate with others at the end of a two-year slump that has all but ruined his toy company, his marriage to Meredith (Jodie Foster) and his relationship with his elder son Porter (Anton Yelchin). So what does he do? While half-heartedly trying to commit suicide in a hotel room, a beaver puppet that he’s been wearing on his left hand stops him from committing the deed—but that’s just Walter talking to himself as a way of dealing with depression, as we quickly find out. Walter moves back home, telling family and co-workers the beaver is a therapeutic communication device prescribed by his psychiatrist. He speaks only through the puppet, which is full of sound ideas about product placement and parenting. Walter’s employees and his younger son, Henry (Riley Thomas Stewart), are won over, but Meredith and Porter stay skeptical, even if his relationship with Meredith soon blossoms again, with dire consequences to Walter’s state of mind after the she insists that Walter switches back to his former self.
Gibson is great in a rather difficult role, giving us glimpses of the frightened boy inside even as the beaver has another foul-mouthed rant in his odd accent. And his interaction with the always-reliable Foster (who also directed the film with a confident sleight of hand filled with quirky details) and the wide-eyed Stewart is terrific. Meanwhile, still-emerging young star Yelchin gets a major subplot as Porter agrees to write the valedictory speech for a popular girl (Jennifer Lawrence), then finds himself embarking on an unexpected relationship even as he tries to eliminate all traces of his father’s mannerisms in himself. This is probably one of the most resonant and assured family dramas we’ve seen this year.