/Beaver Trilogy (2000).jpg)
/Beaver Trilogy.jpg)
Beaver Trilogy (The)
- Director: Trent Harris
- Writer: Trent Harris
- Producer: Elizabeth Grey Cloud; Trent Harris
CGiii Comment
Three versions of the same [rather strange] film...
In a chance interview, a smalltown boy reveals that he does drag - Olivia Neutron Bomb - which has a jaw-dropping effect upon the population when he performs at a local talent show.
A few years later, a young Sean Penn re-enacts the whole thing over again...without adding very much to it.
Then, four years later, it gets a makeover - Crispin Glover takes on the mantle in a more polished production.
It's an interesting example of how an idea can be developed - unfortunately, it would have been much better if the original idea was any good.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
It begins in 1979 with the chance meeting in a Salt Lake City parking lot where filmmaker Trent Harris is approached by an earnest small-town dreamer from Beaver, Utah. Harris jumps at the chance when the young man invites him to come to the small town of Beaver to film a talent show. At the show, the man dons black leather, blond wig and performs in drag as Olivia Newton John. Harris captures it all on tape. What unfolds is a strange, funny, and ultimately poignant portrait of a true outsider. Not willing to let the story go, Harris then created a dramatic piece, "Beaver Kid 2" based on the documentary. This interpretation, shot in 1981 on a home video camera with a budget of $100, features the young Sean Penn as the Beaver Kid re-enacting the same scenario. Still possessed, Harris then rewrote the script, cast Crispin Glover in the lead, and in 1985 created the final segment, "Orkly Kid" as an American Film Institute project.
Cast & Characters
Groovin' Gary as Himself;
Sean Penn as Groovin' Larry;
Crispin Glover as Groovin' Larry;
Stefan Arngrim as Merril;
John Bluto as Byron;
Ken Butler as Terrance;
Lila Waters as Mother;
Shane McCabe as Mr. Larson;
Elizabeth Daily as Carrissa