Movielogr

The Beaver Trilogy (2000)

Directed by Trent Harris

Documentary | Drama | Music

Most recently watched by squeegull

Overview

Our story begins in 1979, with a 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 to film a talent show. At the show, the man dons a blond wig and performs in drag as Olivia Newton John. Harris captures it all on tape: A portrait of a true outsider. Harris shot a dramatic piece, “Beaver Kid 2” based on the documentary; This interpretation of the story, made in 1981 on a home video camera with a budget of $100, features a young Sean Penn as “the Beaver Kid”. Still possessed, Harris then rewrote the script, cast up-and-comer Crispin Glover in the lead, and created the final segment, “The Orkly Kid”, with funding from the American Film Institute. The trilogy unveils the inner world of a fantastic character in three incarnations.

Length 83 minutes

Actors

Crispin Glover | Sean Penn | Kristen Johnston | Elizabeth Daily | Courtney Gains | Lila Waters | Stefan Arngrim | John Bluto | Ken Butler | Shane McCabe | Richard LeVon Griffiths

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Date ViewedDeviceFormatSourceRating
05/08/2020ComputerBroadcastOther7 stars
 

Viewing Notes

This movie is a trip. Wish I had known a little more about the setup so avoid my baffling reaction during the Beaver Kid segment with Sean Penn, who is really good (and had me missing his younger roles / characters). now I wanna see the documentary about this.

Mike White programmed this in his weekly Projection Booth watch party on KAST. I had seen the other two films so I just tuned in for this one. Glad I did!

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