Suffering from a severe case of depression, toy company CEO Walter Black begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter pushes for his parents to get a divorce.
Acting
Gibson's puppet work is genuinely committed, unhinged, devastating.
Direction
Foster navigates tonal whiplash with surprising grace.
Writing
Kyle Killen's script shouldn't work. It mostly does.
Director
Jodie Foster
Mel Gibson
Walter Black
Jodie Foster
Meredith Black
Anton Yelchin
Porter Black
Riley Thomas Stewart
Henry Black
Jennifer Lawrence
Norah
Kelly Coffield Park
Norah's Mom
Zachary Booth
Jared
Cherry Jones
Vice President
Jeff Corbett
Volunteer Dad
Baylen Thomas
Skeptical Man
Sam Breslin Wright
Man
Kris Arnold
Waiter
Elizabeth Kaledin
Reporter
Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Screenwriter Kyle Killen wrote this as a TV pilot; the puppet was originally a walrus. A network passed. The walrus became a beaver. Cinema history was made.
Released during Gibson's 2010 public meltdown, the film's reception was buried under real-world scandal — making its exploration of public shaming and private pain almost unbearably meta.
US
