The Beaver

"The film can't decide whether it wants to be a bittersweet study of mental illness or an oddball farce."

"Though the notion has its outlandishly comic aspect, the movie is more painfully sad than humorous."

"It’s a dark, powerful, haunted performance. You could even argue that Gibson’s vile rants enhance its intrigue."

"Even the long tabloid shadow cast over this production can’t keep The Beaver from finding an emotional resonance in a ridiculously absurdist spectacle, making you sympathise with someone confronting his failure as a father, husband and human being via a ratty felt toy that sounds like Ray Winstone."

"Foster treats the goofy premise with a literal earnestness—as a family drama about separation and reunion—that seems all wrong. A little wit would have helped."

"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."

"The Beaver is almost successful, despite the premise of its screenplay, which I was simply unable to accept."

"Less nutty and more moving than its premise suggests, Jodie Foster's on-target dramedy transcends its real-world baggage."

"It never quite comes together in a satisfying way, but it’s still a brave, strange, brain-stirring piece of filmmaking."