I don’t mind the puppet. It’s not cute, clever or particularly interesting, but it’s about the only memorable thing this dud of a movie has to offer. The story is about a “sick” man who develops a split personality complex in an effort to mend his broken life. He does that by living thru a “prescription” hand puppet he finds in a garbage dump. Its name is The Beaver and he wears it all day every day. He also has conversations with it and uses it to converse with other people, including his estranged family.

He’s supposed to be the crazy one, but his Beaver at-least serves a psychological benefit and doesn’t seem to pose any danger. His supposedly normal oldest son handles his troubles differently; by repeatedly banging his forehead against the bedroom wall, causing a dent that eventually breaks thru to the outside. The plots bounce back and forth between father and son; the latter of which revolves around a banal romance the boy has with a girl from his school; a relationship I couldn’t care less about.

It’s that boring narrative parallel that kills what could’ve come close to being a decent movie. Then again, while the first third is engaging as it makes you wonder how director Jody Foster; who also plays the boy’s mother and the puppetmaster’s wife; is going to make such a silly prop work with such a serious story, the novelty eventually wears thin and leaves a strange silliness where real feelings should be. The ending tries especially hard to build emotional depth, but it just sort of comes off as a maudlin mess.

my rating : 2 of 5

2011