Scant days after taking a look at the first official photo from the set of The Beaver, we've now been blessed with the first trailer for the Mel Gibson/Jodie Foster joint that J.Fo swears will regain Mel Gibson a place in America's heart. And, as any relationship expert can tell you, the best way to a large, multicultural country's heart is through a talking beaver puppet.
Mel stars as Walter Black, a sad sack of a man whose marriage is crumbling and has retreated into a deep depression. But he finds salvation by voicing his entire life through a beaver puppet (and sounding like Michael Caine in the process). Now, Jodie has been asking us to ignore Mel's personal life as an (alleged!) anti-Semitic, racist, sexist, homophobic, wife-beating scumbag when considering this movie, and so we shall!
But leaving all of that aside, this looks both chintzy and formulaic. There are seldom few surprises in the "Person Fights To Get His/Her Life" back genre, and the film didn't do itself any favors by laying out THE ENTIRE MOVIE in the trailer. The beaver gets his business back on track! The beaver helps him bond with his kids! The beaver reunites him with wife! And I imagine funding was a bit difficult since Mel was already pretty radioactive even before his latest escapade, but that had to be the worst voice-over I've heard on a trailer in years; it sounds like they pulled the announcer away from a radio spot for Car-a-Palooza Sales Event at your tri-state area Chevy dealership and asked him to talk about Mel Gibson
VERDICT: By itself, it just looks dull. But in remembering that Mel Gibson is an (alleged!) anti-Semitic, racist, sexist, homophobic, wife-beating scumbag, I say this Beaver should get stuffed.