In Contention

‘The Beaver’ trailer

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Everyone has been wondering what will come of Jodie Foster’s “The Beaver” ever since Mel Gibson went flying off the rails earlier this year.  The film is set for a Spring 2011 release and many in the know seemed to think Gibson could have been an awards play for his performance in the film amid other circumstances.  The trailer has just been released via Apple, however, so we all finally get a look at what the troubled actor was up to.  Check it out by clicking the image below or watch an embed after the jump..

Comments

29 responses to “‘The Beaver’ trailer”

  1. El Duderino Avatar
    El Duderino

    Looks outstanding and Gibson looks to give an amazing performance.

  2. al b. Avatar
    al b.

    Looks fantastic! I’ll definitely be there opening weekend!

  3. DylanS Avatar
    DylanS

    I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the best performance of his career.

  4. Bobmcbob Avatar
    Bobmcbob

    why did it take so long for Jodie Foster to make a film about a beaver?

  5. Mr. F Avatar
    Mr. F

    Not quite what I was expecting, but it looks great.

  6. Matthew Starr Avatar

    Bob, my thoughts exactly.

  7. Jake G. Avatar
    Jake G.

    Next years The Kids Are All Right but more popular!!! Jodie looks outstanding!!!

  8. Chad Hartigan Avatar
    Chad Hartigan

    Looks disappointingly conventional. Missed opportunity.

  9. Alexander Avatar
    Alexander

    This trailer makes the movie look kind of sappy, but it looks promising nonetheless.

  10. Glenn Avatar

    That line about him being a devoted family man is… strange.

  11. Jonathan Spuij Avatar

    Conventional? 99% of movie trailers are just that.
    It looks great, with another great performance not just from Gibson but also Yelchin. Wow.

  12. caro Avatar
    caro

    i want to see more

  13. tony rock Avatar
    tony rock

    To Chad everything is conventional.

  14. Simon Warrasch Avatar
    Simon Warrasch

    Is Mel Gibson this yeary Sandra Bullock? I don’t think so but it will be the biggest suprise to see him on the nominees list!

  15. Ben Avatar

    When the preview for this came on at my Black Swan viewing in DC last night, the whole audience was laughing through the whole thing. It looks absolutely ridiculous….. what was Jodie thinking?

  16. Alex Avatar
    Alex

    I don’t think Jodie Foster has fully embraced the absurdity of the conceit.

    It might just be the trailer but the tone of the piece seems slightly off. Right now I am just imagining what the trailer would look like if Sean Penn had directed and starred in the film. That is definitely a missed opportunity.

    Mel looks good though. I really enjoyed Edge of Darkness – Martin Campbell really embraced the ‘Mel Gibson goes batshit insane’ aspect which made it really funny.

  17. Hc792 Avatar
    Hc792

    The ridiculousness is kind of the point.

  18. billybil Avatar
    billybil

    You are all much more opened minded than I am. I used to adore this actor – saw pretty much everything he did – this looks like a perfect role for him and his talents (even if it does look a little over the top) but – right now – I can’t get past my extreme distaste for the actor himself. I’m shocked by this, actually, but there you are. I don’t WANT to like it – I don’t want it to be successful. That makes me sad.

  19. Evan Avatar
    Evan

    I’ve read the script, and it definitely is not as conventional as the trailer made it out to be. It goes to some VERY dark places. The film is going to be extremely depressing, but it looks like Mel nailed the role. Can’t wait to see it.

  20. Graysmith Avatar
    Graysmith

    It looks promising. It feels like the trailer captures the tone well, that it’s humorous and kind of ridiculous without putting it in comedy territory.

  21. tony rock Avatar
    tony rock

    @Ben…wow, people really are evil, aren’t they?

  22. The Dude Avatar
    The Dude

    I usually think Chad is a bit harsh, but this time I agree…the beginning of the trailer looked promising (and funny) but it seemed to descend into something very familiar and overdone. It seems weird to say that a movie about a man who talks through a puppet is conventional, but that’s the way it felt. Maybe the finished product will be better, but the trailer (coupled with my personal feelings regarding Gibson) do not give me good hope.

  23. Keil Shults Avatar
    Keil Shults

    Kris,

    Could Mel get a Best Actor nod and the Beaver land one for Supporting?

  24. Keil Shults Avatar
    Keil Shults

    All kidding aside…

    If you were handling a movie about Mel Gibson talking through a beaver puppet, shortly following his big scandal, wouldn’t YOU try to make a conventional, feelgood trailer for the movie?

    On a side not, which hand does Mel’s character jerk off with?

  25. Hc792 Avatar
    Hc792

    And also, please don’t let the trailer fool you. It’s not a feel good film. At all.

    I guess the trailer is rather clever in what it doesn’t show. If the script is adapted without any major changes, you definitely don’t get the whole story in the clip.

  26. James D. Avatar

    What Chad said.

    The film sounded surreal and hilarious from plot details we heard about so long ago, but this looks quite Lifetime.

  27. ninja Avatar
    ninja

    Looks like s, yet another “I will fight for my family” sapfest.

  28. André Avatar
    André

    as a sufferer (that a word…?) of chronic depression like the main character…

    am I offended at the jokey solution?… nope
    does this look hilarious?… yes (the first lesson my shrink taught me was to laugh at yourself)
    does his acting look great?… yep
    did I know Jodie was also acting in this?… nope, but glad to see it!

    and, finally, since I’m among the people who SHOULD be offended by this (I still fight a 10-year-old struggle with depression, like the protagonist– not that the details matter), do I wanna see this? YEP!

    while Gibson’s sayings were vile, we can still acknowledge Riefenstahl’s “Olympia” (and, if you de-contextualize it) “Triumph of The Will” as cinematic masterworks.

    if we can put THAT in perspective, I see no reason why we can’t put a man(who clearly has a drinking problem and says dumb stuff when he drinks)’s awful words behind him.

  29. Alex Avatar
    Alex

    Well put André. And good example there about Riefenstahl.