Mel Gibson: Out of the Darkness

By now, we have all been witness to actor-director Mel Gibson’s anger — both on screen and off. We’ve seen him get the bad guys, but we’ve also seen him spill anti-Semitic remarks and alcohol-induced demons.

Last year, his rage culminated in a series of threatening phone calls to his girlfriend (calls that leaked onto the Internet and delayed the release of Gibson’s latest film, “The Beaver.”)

Thank goodness for the delay. This film could not be arriving at a better time. With his slate now wiped clean, Gibson seems more suited for his character, Walter Black — a man trying to distance himself from the destructive parts of his personality. Gibson is accomplishing that through this film just as Walter is through his beaver puppet. In fact, his personal problems off screen seem to be adding emotional weight to his character.

This is not the first time that Gibson’s art has imitated his life. Whilst wallowing in alcohol-drowned sorrows, he has made a whole career out of playing tortured characters that are trying to rebuild their crumbling lives. (If you want proof of that, just look into the title of his second directorial effort, "Apocalypto" — it translates to "a new beginning.")

Gibson's career began with bereavement in the film "Mad Max," in which he plays a policeman who seeks vengeance for his family's murder.

The film "Ransom" exists in a similar vein, with Gibson's character exacting justice upon the people who kidnapped his son.

Gibson was seen most recently in "Edge of Darkness" as a Boston detective rebuilding his life after his daughter's brutal murder. It’s prime vintage Mel Gibson — an action thriller in which he instills his character with his famed temper. Its self-awareness is fun; it might as well have been called "Mad Mel is Back!"

However, "Edge of Darkness" was negatively affected by Gibson's off-screen antics (calling a reporter an asshole among other things). Needless to say, the film wasn't the big comeback Gibson was hoping for. Hopefully, "The Beaver" will be.

"The Beaver" is but one of the many recent films wherein the central character obviously mirrors the actor playing him. It evokes such films as "Punch-Drunk Love" and "The Wrestler." "Punch-Drunk Love" is a summary of Adam Sandler's career, fusing his impulsive, eccentric characters with his shy, awkward off-screen persona. In the same vein, "The Wrestler" is not only about the fictional, washed-up wrestler Randy Robinson, but the equally battered actor playing him, Mickey Rourke, and his quest for redemption.

These films are especially powerful precisely because of the self-reflective quality of the lead performances — a quality that allows moviegoers to see through the character and peer into the actor's soul.

Hopefully, the same can be said for Mel Gibson's performance in "The Beaver." Like all of his characters — and people in the real world — he deserves a new beginning.