Leaves of Grass Review

Edward Norton works double in this dark comedy

Two types of film are very difficult to get right: the type of film where an actor/actress plays more than one role and the pot movie that appeals to more than just the pot community. “Leaves of Grass”, a film by actor turned director Tim Blake Nelson and starring Edward Norton and Keri Russell. The film manages to be a solid entry into both categories. The film is a solid entry into both groups and manages to feel a bit similar to a film by the Coen brothers, with which Tim Blake Nelson worked with on “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

The problem with most movies where an actor plays more than one role doesn’t come from the computer wizardry used to bring the characters played by the same actor to the same screen, the problem most often comes from the actor/actress themselves. When playing twins actors/actresses often fall into the hole of since their playing identical twins then the characters should act identical. Edward Norton manages to make the characters of Bill and Brady Kincaid feel differently enough that they come off as separate people.

Pot movies often fall into trap of underestimating the audience. Pot movies are seen by people who smoke pot and are probably viewing the film while under its influence because of this pot films only appeal to that minority and may only be amusing under certain circumstances. “Leaves of Grass” doesn’t fall into the trap that many other films have stumbled into. Sure there is recreational use of marijuana contained in the film, but those scenes aren’t the focus of the film itself.

The film’s premise is that an Ivy League professor, Bill Kincaid, is lured back to his hometown in Oklahoma by his twin brother, Brady Kincaid. His brother has lured him back to aid in the scheme to take down a local drug lord, Pug Rothbaum played by Richard Dreyfuss. Tim Blake Nelson also stars as Brady’s best friend Bolger. The film manages to go through a couple of dark twists and ends up in places that you won’t expect.

The film isn’t the greatest thing to hit screens this year, it doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but the familiar content is approached in different ways than has been traditionally seen. It was surprisingly good for what it was, but it won’t redefine the way we think of film or probably won’t get nominated for anything. Overall it is a fun time to be had with solid performances and direction, definitely for people that enjoy some dark moments with their comedy and for people that like a little substance to go with the laughs.