Mel likes the Beaver

Mel Gibson has signed on to star in the upcoming indie drama THE BEAVER for director Jodie Foster, who will also co-star as Gibson’s wife. The film, written by Kyle Killen, generated much buzz in December when it was on the Black List of the best unproduced scripts. Steve Carell was first attached to the flick, later replaced by Jim Carrey but in my mind Mel Gibson is the best man for the part.

Carell and Carrey are both fine actors but casting them in this movie gives off the impression that this is, in the end, a lighthearted comedy, which it definitely is not. I read the script earlier this year and it’s got some lighthearted elements (as any movie about a man who talks to a Beaver puppet with a British accent on his left hand would) but it goes to some pretty dark places and doesn’t really have any outright laughs (though I could imagine an early man/puppet fight scene could be played up as a big comedy set piece). It is, however, one of the best scripts of the year.

I’m slightly more concerned about Foster’s role directing and only because she hasn’t directed a film since 1995. Luckily for all involved, the film is set up independently (through David Fincher’s Anonymous Content) and will allow Foster and Gibson to find their own film instead of being beholden to a studio.

Filming on THE BEAVER is scheduled to begin this September in New York.