TheRetroCritic

Here's a little film which I saw ages ago and talked about long before its release (Gibson + Beaver = lols) but never actually got around to reviewing. Why? Well, I quite simply didn't know what to make of it. Sold as a kind of harmless, cute indie comedy, The Beaver looked like fun and the very idea of Mel Gibson with a cockney beaver hand-puppet alone made me very happy indeed. Imagine my surprise then when the film ends in the most unsubtly depressing way imaginable! I won't spoil it but jeesh! So it all starts off as a kind of happy-go-lucky dramedy about a guy going through a mental breakdown and finding salvation in the titular beaver. The Beaver helps him through a difficult time in his life and it all seems to be heading towards a nice little Disney-approved ending. Then Mel fights The Beaver. Literally. It's HILARIOUS. But then it's followed by something so dramatically crazy your jaw will probably drop as you suddenly find yourself in a very

Had I known as a kid that one day a Young Frankenstein musical would ever exist I think I would have gone through the roof with pure geeky giddiness. Well, I wasn't a kid but when I heard Gene Wilder say in an interview that Mel Brooks was working on that show but I can honestly say that I creamed a tiny bit. Now it's 2011 and...you know what? I completely missed the damn thing! Living in London sucks. I did get to check out a filmed performance though so at least I got to see it eventually. Thoughts? This is one big, expensive musical indeed. Hell, the Overture itself is like 4 minutes long! But I guess seeing as this is based on what is essentially Mel Brooks' best film and follows a huge hit like The Producers it's bound to be big and expensive. From what I understand critics were mixed upon its release but from my side of things, I loved every minute of it. Roger Bart, originally cast as Igor, turns out to be the perfect choice for Dr Frankenstein (read: F