A story about another dysfunctional family. Well, actually, that’s the norm, not the exception these days where dysfunction is the new function or the new normal. Where fathers’ have alter-egos in the form of a muppet-like stuffed animal that looks like a beaver, and sons’ bang their heads against their bedroom walls so hard that they make a hole right through the wall– but cover it up from the inside with a nice world map.
Well, on a more serious level this is a story of mental illness and the reality of living with a person afflicted with a disorder of the mind. It can be funny, but not really. Not when you realize that the one you love doesn’t know who they really are, and in order to maintain some semblance of normalcy they must resort to the absolute abnormal. No laughing matter, all this. But all’s well and it ends well. Which, unfortunately, is not always the case every time in real life…
Mel Gibson does a fine job of portraying this mentally unsound father and husband, and his natural Aussie accent is put to good use when he is in the character of the beaver. Jodie Foster knows her way both in front and behind the camera. And the two sons add to the drama of what it means to keep your sanity about you when your life-responsibilities include being a parent.
