The Beaver Trilogy, 2000 - ★★★★½

"When its on TV its OK... people understand when its on television."

Richard LaVon Griffiths/Sean Penn/Crispin Glover

Viewed as part of my Beware the Docs of March Marathon 1

Truly amazing oddity and totally one of a kind documentary slash performance piece. Its made in three segments plus an extra audio segment giving more feedback, background detail and a short interview with film maker Trent Harris.

Part 1: is the original real 1979 footage following eccentric celebrity wannabe Richard LaVon Griffiths aka Groovin' Gary. He stumbled onto cameraman Trent Harris (who was shooting footage randomly to sort his gear out). Harris ended up being invited back to Griffith's small town of Beaver Utah to film him performing in drag as Olivia Newton Don, in a local talent show.

Part 2: A near scene for scene shot on videotape remake with a pre-famous Sean Penn playing Griffiths, it features a slightly appended ending with our hero close to suicide on realizing how odd he'd be taken on TV.

Part 3: A bigger budget, more movie like feeling version of the story now named "The Orkly Kid" this time featuring Crispin Glover.

Totally one of a kind, bizarre viewing experience. On one hand its truly hilarious yet on the other so cringe worthily awkward. But Griffith's is like a train wreck, you can't help but keep watching no matter how painful. Even though Penn & Glover do their best, nothing compares to the original.

Hey look! It's a movie review from Letterboxd