London, Dec 6: Months after his vicious custody war with former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, Mel Gibson is preparing to relaunch his career by playing a man who befriends a hand-puppet beaver after suffering a breakdown.

The trailer for Gibson's new film 'The Beaver' received its premiere on US television this weekend amid doubts that it would be the ideal role to kick-start the actor's rehabilitation, reports the Telegraph.

Rumoured for a spring 2011 release and directed by Jodie Foster who also co-stars as his disgruntled wife, the film stars Gibson as Walter Black - a depressed, lonely man who copes with his problems by speaking through a beaver puppet.

Critics have suggested the timing of its release is not ideal for the 54-year-old actor, who was accused in July of injuring Grigorieva during an incident of domestic violence.

Recordings of voicemail messages released over the Internet also appeared to feature Gibson subjecting Grigorieva, with whom he has a child, to rants filled with expletives and racial slurs.

Comedy critic Katla McGlynn said after the actor spent 'half of 2010 showing the world how crazy he can really be', he had now been made to look 'just as crazy as a talking beaver puppet'.