MANILA, Philippines - Two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster directs and co-stars with two-time Academy Award winner Mel Gibson in Summit Entertainment’s “The Beaver” – an emotional story about a man on a journey to re-discover his family and re-start his life. The critically acclaimed film will be shown soon exclusively at Ayala Mall Cinemas (Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3 and Trinoma).
Plagued by his own demons, Walter Black (Gibson) was once a successful toy executive and family man who now suffers from depression. No matter what he tries, Walter can’t seem to get himself back on track…until a beaver hand puppet enters his life.
In her career as a director, Jodie Foster has developed a reputation for her adept ability to share universal themes of family and family dynamics through the specific experiences of the characters in her films. At the time that producer Steve Golin was searching for the perfect helmer for “The Beaver,” several major Hollywood directors were contacting him, eager to get involved. But the director that Golin was most interested in was Foster, as her two previous directorial efforts, “Little Man Tate” and “Home for the Holidays,” demonstrated that her skills behind the lens were exactly what this story needed.
“Jodie called about the project, she came in and we discussed it,” Golin says. “She was very compelling, so passionate about the material. She showed an amazing affinity for the script. I was really impressed by her, intrigued by her grasp of the story and the possibility of her directing.
“I read the script for ‘The Beaver’ and loved it, but there was another director involved at the time,” says Foster. “Even though there was a lot of really interesting work to be done on the script, it was such a raw and beautiful first movie for a first time writer that I kept saying to everybody, ‘listen, if anything happens, call me up.’ And that’s exactly what happened, where a hole opened up.”
One aspect of the story that had particular resonance for the producer was the way it dealt with issues of family.
“At heart, despite all the strange twists and turns ‘The Beaver’ is a family drama, the story of a father and son coming together, that tells in very direct terms how a fractured family finds a way to heal itself. It doesn’t happen in the normal way it usually happens in films but in a deeply imaginative and original way.”