I wouldn’t want to be Walter Black. He’s depressed about life and wants nothing to do with anybody. So, The Beaver starts off pessimistically or at least that’s the card actress/director Jodie Foster wishes to play. Walter, played by Mel Gibson, has lost all interest in his family and business. On the verge of doing something terrible, he hears a voice. Then, his life changes. When the Beaver turns up, it manifests itself in the form of a puppet, which manipulated consciously or unconsciously by Walter, seeks to guide his life. The reality is that it takes over his existence, leading to an outcome most should see coming from a mile off.

Just what Foster and Gibson hoped to achieve here remains unclear. The premise, a severely compromised novelty, soon wears off. Any humour dissipates with the disruption of Walter’s family life. When his wife Meredith (Foster) tries in vain to get him to see the light, things become messy in terms of narrative focus.

As edited by Lynzee Klingman, the pacing resembles a carriage trot with Gibson, the lonely wanderer harbouring a vision, transforming his company’s fortunes but losing the faith of his family in the process. It’s a muddled offering, lazily contrived to inspire some unknown, new feeling in the viewer.

In a misguided subplot, the oldest son Porter (Anton Yelchin) falls for future graduate Norah (Jennifer Lawrence). When this story meets the primary one, it creates a jarring effect which sticks out like an annoying splinter.

Gibson, in his attempt to be innovative with his acting, falls short of any satisfactory result. He asks the audience to journey with him into some dark places, and it feels so uncoordinated as to lose all credibility.

The supporting players offer a mixed blessing. Jodie Foster’s down-to-earth, long-suffering mother and wife role seems awfully clichéd and old hat. Jennifer Lawrence could do so much more in her part. Overall, she looks miscast in a picture full of complicated ideas and fanciful notions. Anton Yelchin also fails to grasp his own weirdo characterisation. He appears more dysfunctional than his father, and the idea of him charging other students to do their school papers strikes me as quite absurd.

The Beaver feels mostly like a work-in-progress. Quite simply, it’s all over the emotional map with regards to loneliness, depression and its propensity toward fantasy.

(Released by Summit Entertainment and rated "PG-13" for mature thematic material, some disturbing content, sexuality and language including a drug reference.)