LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - In "The Beaver," Gibson plays Walter Black, a lonely man who is depressed after being abandoned by his family. He begins communicating through the wooly puppet of the title, which he gives a personality and a British accent. The film is rumored to be surprisingly good, despite its inauspicious premise.

Some say the timing of its release is not ideal for the 54-year-old Gibson. Katla McGlynn, a comedy critic for The Huffington Post, said after he had spent "half of 2010 showing the world how crazy he can really be", Gibson had now been made to look "just as crazy as a talking beaver puppet."

The film is set to be released next year in the spring. It was originally due in theaters this fall, but was delayed amid "a number of reshoots" and "Hollywood whispers about tension on set", the L.A. Times reported.

Earlier this year, New York magazine's Claude Brodesser-Akner wrote that the film's producers "privately admit that even they don't know what to do with the Jodie Foster-directed movie." He added: "Imagine all the interviewers asking, 'Mel, have you ever felt like you were going crazy?'"

Gibson was dropped by his agents, William Morris Endeavor, after the telephone recordings of his alleged racist remarks about black and Hispanic people emerged. He threatened his model girlfriend with physical violence, with whom he has a baby daughter.

The actor has also previously said he suffered from manic depression and alcohol abuse. He prompted controversy in 2006 when he made anti-Semitic remarks after being arrested for drink-driving.