Jodie and Jennifer Can't Save 'Beaver'
Reviews are in for The Beaver - and as we expected, they're fairly dismal. The movie, released at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, stars Mel Gibson as a troubled executive who decides to communicate solely through a beaver hand-puppet, Jodie Foster (who also directed) as his wife, and Jennifer Lawrence as the brainy cheerleader/valedictorian at their son's high school.
The Wall Street Journal highlighted Jennifer in their review: "What's to recommend in The Beaver? First but not least, Jennifer Lawrence playing Norah. I wish this hadn't been her first released film since Winter's Bone; the role doesn't deserve her. Still, she fills every moment of it, even a manipulative graduation speech, with warmth and graceful intelligence." MovieLine wrote of Jodie's directing, "Foster clearly knows she's telling a very messy, unmanageable story. ... And if The Beaver isn't as effective as it ought to be, at least there's integrity in Foster's approach."
Jodie has piled praise on Jennifer in interviews promoting the film, such as this one: "[Jennifer] has something that's really special, and I don't know if she has any control over it or if she's even aware of it. It's as if she has lived through world wars. And nothing could be further from who Jennifer is. [Laughs] She is a lot of fun to be around, yet she has a weariness that can come out of her. And that's an amazing quality that just brings so much to dramas."
Only 20, with an Oscar nomination already under her belt, you can also see Jennifer in X-Men: First Class, out later this week (and featuring Morgan Lily, who plays Jennifer's Mystique as a little girl). And of course, Jennifer is currently filming her most anticipated role yet, Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, set for release in 2012.
We couldn't find a photo of Jodie and Jennifer together at The Beaver's premiere, so here's an old one of them the Hollywood Awards Gala last October. Jodie is presenting the New Hollywood Award to Jennifer.
Awww!