Alright, we’ve probably gone on enough about Tim Blake Nelson’s odd, multi-layered philosophical pot comedy cum thriller cum family drama (it’s many films mashed into one), “Leaves Of Grass,” that stars Ed Norton as a pair of opposite twin brothers on the wrong side of drug deal.
The picture also stars Keri Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Melanie Lynskey, Susan Sarandon and Blake Nelson himself. We saw it at TIFF and it’s not perfect, but it’s distinct, has several unexpected narrative twists and gets a lot darker than we would have ever assumed. It’s not an easy film pill to swallow because it juggles so many tones and goes from comedy to violent tragedy pretty quickly, but we were pretty impressed because it completely defied our expectations. That says a lot these days.
Anyhow, the official trailer has arrived (there was a version out a few months ago) and this is a small picture that is valuable and will need your support so that’s why we keep flogging it. Here’s the official synopsis:
When Ivy League classics professor Bill Kincaid receives news of the murder of his estranged identical twin brother, Brady (both played by two-time Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton), in a pot deal gone bad, he leaves the world of Northeastern academia to travel back to his home state of Oklahoma. Upon arrival, he finds that reports of his brother’s death are greatly exaggerated, and he’s soon caught up in the dangerous and unpredictable world of drug commerce in the backwaters of the Southwest. In the process, he reconnects with his eccentric mother ( Susan Sarandon), meets a wise and educated young woman who has bypassed academia in favor of the gentler rhythms of life (Keri Russell), and unwittingly helps his troubled brother settle a score with a pernicious drug lord (Academy Award® winner Richard Dreyfuss) who uses Tulsa, Oklahoma’s small Jewish community for cover. Leaves of Grass follows a twisting narrative path merging crime drama, drug comedy, classical philosophy and sudden violence in pursuit of answering one of humanity’s oldest questions: What does it truly mean to live a happy and constructive life?
The film hits theaters April 2 in limited release. If you live in New York or L.A. make sure to go see this interesting little curio.