Trent Harris Movies

In 1979, while working as a cameraman for a local news program in Salt Lake City, Trent Harris made the acquaintance of a genial but eccentric entertainer from the nearby town of Beaver, UT, who called himself Groovin' Gary. Harris' experiences with Groovin' Gary inspired three different short subjects, and The Beaver Trilogy collects Harris' three Groovin' Gary films into one feature presentation. In 1979's The Beaver Kid, viewers are introduced to Groovin' Gary, the self-proclaimed "Rich Little of Beaver," as he shows off his car (named after Farrah Fawcett), does impressions, and plugs a talent show in which he'll be appearing. Gary's act turns out to be a full-drag (and painfully sincere) impersonation of Olivia Newton-John performing "Please Don't Keep Me Waitin'." Two years later, Harris made The Beaver Kid 2, essentially a satiric recreation of the first film, with Sean Penn (who had then only recently scored his first film role) playing Groovin' Larry (the real Gary had since chosen to distance himself from Harris and his documentary). Finally, 1985's The Orkly Kid features Crispin Glover (who later starred in Harris' Rubin and Ed) as Larry, an aspiring comic and entertainer from Orkly, IA, who bears a certain resemblance to Groovin' Gary. Larry feels he has a gift and a message he wants to share with the world, but his fellow citizens of Orkly aren't so sure they're ready for Larry's Olivia Newton-John tribute, eventually leading Larry to move on to the big city in hopes of making his dreams come true. Both The Beaver Kid and The Beaver Kid 2 were produced on color video (the latter on a reported budget of only one hundred bucks), while The Orkly Kid was filmed in 16 mm, with the support of the American Film Institute; the three shorts were transferred to 35 mm film for their release as The Beaver Trilogy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Rubin & Ed is Trent Harris' off-the-wall buddy movie about two mismatched geeks on a quest to bury a frozen cat. Rubin Farr (Crispin Glover) is a shy, reclusive loner who lives in his mother's hotel. He'd much rather sit in his bedroom listening to Mahler, playing with his squeaky-mouse, than go outside. His mother has other plans, however, and one afternoon she decides to pull the plug on Rubin's eccentric behavior. She demands that he go out and make at least one friend. Rubin capitulates, and after a somewhat half-hearted search, he finds Ed Tuttle (Howard Hesseman, in one of his best performances). Ed is a divorced, middle-aged loser enrolled in a self-help/ get-rich-quick organization called PPR: Positive Power through Real Estate. Ed agrees to have dinner with Rubin and his mother if Rubin agrees to attend a PPR training seminar. All goes as planned for both, until Ed opens the freezer and discovers Rubin's dead cat. The unlikely pair then embarks on an hallucinatory quest through the Utah desert in order to find the perfect spot to bury Rubin's cat. Though at first mutually disgusted by each other, Rubin and Ed eventually learn how to become friends. Karen Black is superb as Ed Tuttle's annoying ex-wife Rula, as is Michael Greene as PPR magnate Mr. Busta. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide