Foster does her audience an injustice by adopting a humorless tone and refusing to have more fun with the obvious elephant in the room.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 9, 2023

The Beaver flirts with virtually every genre.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.0/4.0 | Sep 2, 2020

This might have been better as an intimate drama about mental illness and it doesn't have time to explore all of its themes.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 24, 2018

Thinks it's a whimsical tale of a man finding himself, but Gibson thinks it's the tale of a man losing his mind.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Jun 22, 2013

Jodie Foster's The Beaver had its moments, but the overall premise just didn't fly. I just couldn't buy the idea of the talking puppet.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jun 2, 2013

The device of the beaver is a constant distraction from what is otherwise a compelling tale of a man and family in crisis.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 4, 2012

It's a bummer of a movie -- dark and at cross-purposes with both itself and any image do-over [Gibson] might be seeking.

Full Review | Oct 7, 2011

Sthn trith ths skhnothetikh apopeira, h Jodie Foster akomh den exei piasei thn ennoia toy rakor, alla ayto einai to mikrotero ap' ta problhmata mias dramenti poy pairnei to thema ths katathlipshs arketa elafra, gia na thes na thn aytoktonhseis

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 29, 2011

Moviegoers probably won't be interested in seeing Mel Gibson in an onscreen train wreck that reminds them so much of the mess he's made of his real life.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 9, 2011

Put the puppet back into the dumpster.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 20, 2011

Se maneja en el filo entre la comedia absurda y el drama lacrimógeno, una combinación no siempre efectiva. Dentro de un buen elenco se destaca el intento de Mel Gibson por volver a los primeros planos.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 5, 2011

This is a wholly wasted opportunity for Gibson -- and a disappointing misfire from Foster.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/10 | Aug 1, 2011

It is a totally manufactured product, this film, completely free of sincerity and reality

Full Review | Jul 31, 2011

Jodie Foster invites us to laugh at this guy who talks through a puppet, then scolds us for doing so.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Jul 5, 2011

The Beaver goes to elaborate lengths to sidestep any interesting conflicts or complex characters, instead opting for twee humour and saccharine life lessons.

Full Review | Jul 1, 2011

Foster's curious movie is at once a realisation of the kind of "risky" script that never gets made and an unwitting signifier of typical Hollywood contrivance.

Full Review | Jun 21, 2011

It is the very essence of a misfire, a film so out of step with the times that I'm tempted to say Dick Cheney on a hunting trip couldn't have misfired more.

Full Review | Jun 19, 2011

Not a good movie, but a brave one from a star in trouble.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 17, 2011

It isn't offensive, or antisemitic, or actionable, so there's some relief -- but it is very embarrassing.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 17, 2011

Contrived, self-admiring and self-pitying, unfunny, burdened with a central performance which is unendurably conceited and charmless.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jun 16, 2011