If you haven’t already heard, the battle — if you want to call it that — for Tim Blake Nelson’s “Leaves Of Grass” starring Ed Norton is over.
Well-received at TIFF in 2009, the film was picked up by First Look Studios last year and was scheduled to receive a small theatrical release and then a subsequent DVD one this spring. Then Ed Norton himself said the film had been bought by another company and was going to be released this summer. Well, this summer is almost over and we’ve learned that deal has fallen through. As correctly listed on the First Look site, the film will be released on DVD on October 12, however a spokesperson for the studio tells us that the film will receive a small theatrical release in New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma (where much of the film takes place) on September 17.
Centering on a pot dealer and his philosophy professor twin brother (both played by Edward Norton) forced to help his estranged brother out with a drug deal gone bad, we called the picture unexpectedly, “complex…unexpectedly violent, then funny and then totally tragic” (read our review here) and a highly ambitious picture that’s like, “five films rolled into one” (including romance, stoner comedy and action thriller).
The film stars Norton (x2) and excellent supporting turns by Keri Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Melanie Lynskey, Susan Sarandon and Tim Blake Nelson (who also wrote and directed the film) and was a movie we added to our Most Anticipated: 30 2010 Films We’ve Already Seen list, and our Best Films Of The Year… So Far (Mid-way Mark) list. Roger Ebert has been another champion of the picture. It’s not a perfect film, but a very interesting little odd gem that’s worth seeking out.