The Beaver Directed by: Jodie Foster Starring: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and Anton Yelchin Rating:  PG-13 Release Date: May 20, 2011

TRAILER SCORE: 5/10

MY THOUGHTS: The story is promisingly weird, a depressed man finds a new lease on life by interacting with the world through a hand puppet. It sounds like a Charlie Kaufman script. Jodie Foster's directing and acting, which sounds like an odd fit, but could work. But it stars Mel Gibson, and that gives me pause. I still think he's a massive tool after all the tabloid incidents and don't want to give my money to a project he's involved in. Beyond my own prejudice, it looks kind of... sad. I shouldn't be surprised, Gibson's character is supposed to be depressed after all. But the premise sounds more lighthearted and fun than what I'm seeing in this trailer. I expected Gibson to go into crazy Lethal Weapon mode once his character gets the puppet, but even then he seems low energy. The end of the preview, where the puppet prompts Gibson's character to make a successful toy reminds me of Crazy People with Dudley Moore. But that could just be me.

So interesting premise but the trailer doesn't excite me. I'll wait and see how the film is reviewed before I decide how to spend my money.