An Ivy League professor is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown where his twin brother a small-time pot grower has concocted a scheme to take down a local drug lord.
Ed Norton rides the crest of a wave in a double role which sees him play brothers Bill and Brady Kincaid; one a shy and retiring classics professor, the other a cannabis growing, Southern stoner in over his head with an Israeli crime boss. Written, directed and co-starring Tim Blake Nelson, 'Leaves of Grass' was one of my favorite films of 2010 and I imagine it'll go onto be regarded as somewhat of a cult classic in the months and years ahead.
Norton avoids the temptation to go over the top with either role and injects a measured level of humor and subtle, shared character traits that work to convince the viewer of the Kincaid's shared DNA. With great supporting turns by Susan Sarandon, Kerri Russell and Richard Dreyfus as crime lord Pug Rothbaum (listen out for Dreyfus's hilarious nod to 'The Merchant of Venice') 'Leaves of Grass' is a strangely beautiful film with offbeat humor and pathos, like 'Adaptation' but better. And only an actor of Ed Norton's caliber could've handled a role that encompasses the poetry of Walt Whitman, the finer points of cultivating Marijuana and murder by Menorah! Nelson's film is probably the first highbrow stoner screwball comedy / drama of its kind; not for everyone, but certainly one of the more original American movies in recent years. Give it a go.
Tim Blake Nelson writes, directs and stars in this film about a pair of identical twins who are leading very different lives but are brought together again unexpectedly and tossed into a whirlwind of trouble.
Edward Norton (never better than when he was in films like Fight Club and Death To Smoochy) takes the central roles as identical twins Bill and Brady Kincaid. Bill is a well respected Ivy League professor of classical philosophy who is informed of his brother's murder (by crossbow) and has to return to his home town in Oklahoma for the funeral. However when he gets there he finds that his brother Brady (a two-bit criminal drug dealer is very much alive and actually wants Bill to stand in for him (taking a trip to visit their mother, played by Susan Sarandon (Alfie)) as his 'alibi' while he goes off on a revenge mission against a local drug lord (played by Richard Dreyfuss (Phenomenon).
It's a crazy scheme, that's most likely going to go wrong. Bill doesn't want to do it but Brady has always had a certain way of persuading his brother to do things he doesn't necessarily want to do. Keri Russell (Waitress) pops up as Janet, a childhood friend of Bill's and turns into his love interest, while Tim Blake Nelson (so wonderful in O' Brother Where Art Thou?) as Rick Bolger, Brady's right hand man.
The film itself is well written if a little odd at time and adequately directed. But what exactly lured Edward Norton into the lead roles of this film? It seems a bit small fry for him. That said Norton doesn't seem to have been on the big screen much, if at all, since the rather ill-fated (yet impressive) reboot of The Hulk. So maybe he was looking for something small and kind of Indie before heading back to the big time with another Hollywood blockbuster. Still is it just me or has his entire career seemed to go downhill since Fight Club? I mean don't get me wrong, I think he is a fantastic actor, but does he just make bad choices? He's been in some terrible films and also taken some terrible roles? Apparently some of it (appearing in The Italian Job for instance) was to do with contractual obligations but it can't all be stuff that he's being forced to do. What's his excuse for spending an entire film behind a mask in Kingdom of Heaven which was a rubbish film anyway? Norton started his career with amazing performances in the likes of American History X and Rounders. Keeping the Faith was funny and Red Dragon was OK as far as sequels / remakes go but films such as The Painted Veil and The Illusionist were a bit dull to say the least. Mind you he did put in a cracking performance in Down In The Valley.
Anyway Leaves of Grass is so, so in terms of a film as a whole, and although it is fun seeing Norton take on two roles it's not as impressive as Nicolas Cage's twin brothers performance in Adaptation. The story is a bit weak in places, relying a little too heavily on co-incidence. At the end of the film you might be left feeling that the whole 105 minutes was basically about putting a Norton into two roles and seeing what he could do. He does well but not quite well enough to make this film more than an average watch, which is probably why it's gone straight to DVD, which is a real shame.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play Tim Blake Nelson writes and directs this offbeat comedy about pot poetry philosophy and coming to terms with the past Edward Norton plays two identical twin brothers both highly intelligent but diametrically opposite Bill is an Ivy League classical philosophy professor who has worked hard to distance himself from his down-at-heel small-town upbringing while his marijuana-dealing brother Brady still lives in their hometown in Oklahoma When Brady tricks Bill into returning home for the first time in 20 years Bill is furious and threatens to take the next plane back to the East Coast However he ends up staying long enough to visit his estranged mother (Susan Sarandon) and fall under the spell of free-spirited local teacher Janet (Keri Russell)
Tim Blake Nelson writes and directs this offbeat comedy about pot, poetry, philosophy and coming to terms with the past. Edward Norton plays two identical twin brothers, both highly intelligent but diametrically opposite. Bill is an Ivy League classical philosophy professor who has worked hard to distance himself from his down-at-heel small-town upbringing, while his marijuana-dealing brother Brady still lives in their hometown in Oklahoma. When Brady tricks Bill into returning home for the first time in 20 years, Bill is furious and threatens to take the next plane back to the East Coast. However, he ends up staying long enough to visit his estranged mother (Susan Sarandon) and fall under the spell of free-spirited local teacher Janet (Keri Russell).
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