Leaves of Grass (film)

Leaves of Grass
Promotional poster
Directed by	Tim Blake Nelson
Produced by	First Look Studios
Written by	Tim Blake Nelson
Starring	Edward Norton Keri Russell Tim Blake Nelson Richard Dreyfuss Susan Sarandon
Music by	Jeff Danna
Cinematography	Roberto Schaefer
Editing by	Michelle Botticelli
Distributed by	Millennium Pictures
Release date(s)	September 14, 2009 (2009-09-14) (TIFF) September 17, 2010 (2010-09-17) (United States)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9 million
Box office	$1,018,753

Leaves of Grass is an American black comedy/drama film written and directed by Tim Blake Nelson. It stars Edward Norton, Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, Melanie Lynskey and Keri Russell. The film, released on September 17, 2010, is in limited release by Millennium Pictures. It was featured in the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.

Plot

Bill Kincaid (Edward Norton) is lecturing his Latin class at Brown University about Socrates’ dialogues. He dismisses the class and then meets up with his student, Anne (Lucy DeVito). Anne attempts to have sex with Bill, to which he repeatedly refuses. A coworker enters the room, and talks to Bill about an upcoming meeting he is having with Harvard associates.

Brady Kincaid (also played by Edward Norton) is down South lecturing two drug dealers who work for Pug Rothbaum (Richard Dreyfuss) about the drug business. Brady grows and sells all natural marijuana. He explains that he has no intention of expanding his sales, despite needing money to repay a debt to Rothbaum. Meanwhile, Bill talks with Dean Sorensen (Ty Burrell) about a job at Harvard in which philosophy would be included in their law school. Bill leaves, and on his way back to Brown, his brother's partner Bolger (Tim Blake Nelson) tells Bill that Brady was dead. Bill goes home and books a flight to Tulsa.

Bill arrives in Tulsa, and Bolger is waiting outside to pick him up. They go to a bar, and Bill hesitantly agrees goes with Bolger to the supermarket afterward. Bill is mistaken for Brady at the supermarket, and is subsequently beat up and knocked unconscious. When Bill wakes up, he is being looked after by Brady. Brady tells Bill that he is getting married and having a baby, and guilts Bill into staying. Brady brings Bill onto the back porch and starts smoking, and after some persuading, Bill smokes too. Brady asks Bill to pretend to be Brady while he goes up state to take care of Rothbaum. Bill meets Janet (Keri Russell) at a party at Brady's, and is immediately smitten with her. Later that night, Bill agrees to Brady's proposal.

Bill is with Janet catching catfish. After Janet catches one and guts it in front of Bill. She asks if he is still leaving in the morning and she tells him she’ll miss him despite the fact that they know each other. She recites a Walt Whitman poem to him, telling him that she understands him and is expressing unbridled passion in a rule-less medium. Bill tells her that a lack of rules doesn’t lead to truth. She tells him that truth is in front of them and what they need is in front of them. The pair kisses and Janet then drives Bill to the old folk home.

Bolger and Brady go to Rothbaum's synagogue in Tulsa, where Rabbi Zimmerman (Maggie Siff) is giving a sermon. Rothbaum spots Brady, and tells him they will talk elsewhere. Brady and Bolger meet with Rothbaum at his compound, where Rothbaum demands his money back. When Rothbaum threatens to kill them if they don't have his money, Bolger quickly shoots Rothbaum's thugs, and Brady stabs Rothbaum. They then head to the Broken Bow market, and attack the people who beat up Bill. Upon returning home, Bill has figured out that Brady killed Rothbaum. After an argument, Bill is called and told that his teaching is suspended, due to the earlier situation with Anne.

In Tulsa, Ken Fienman (Josh Pais), an orthodontist Bill met on his plane, hears of Rothbaum’s murder and figures everything out. He purchases a gun and sets off for Brady's house. When he arrives, Bill is getting ready to leave. Ken accuses Brady of the murder, and forces everyone into a group. He tells Bill and Brady that he needs money, as his orthodontist career is failing. However, Bill makes Ken break down, and both prepares to leave. However, Brady won't let Ken leave, and as a result, is shot in the chest by Ken. Bill repeatedly shoots Ken in retaliation, and Brady takes the gun so Bill isn't blamed for the murder. The police arrive moments before Brady succumbs to his wounds.

At Brady's funeral, Bill shares that Brady was responsible for the best times of his life, and explains the regret and difficulty of leaving everything behind. Bolger later takes Bill up to Tulsa to see Rabbi Zimmerman, as Brady wanted her to know that Rothbaum's murder was not a hate crime. They then go to visit the thugs that ratted Brady out. Bill tries to sell Brady’s growing system to them, but the thug thinks that the property should be owed, and refuses to pay for it. As Bill and Bolger walk away angered, Bill is shot through the chest by the thug's crossbow, and Bolger quickly kills the thug and takes Bill to the hospital. Janet comes and visits him immediately, and discovers that, despite the long recovery he will need, Bill very narrowly escaped death. Bolger is told that he saved Bill’s life, repaying his debt to Brady. A few weeks later, Bill is sitting outside of Brady and Colleen’s house while Daisy is taking care of the baby. Janet and Bill are sitting drinking lemonade as a summer storm rolls in. It starts raining and the two hold hands over a copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

Cast

• Edward Norton as identical twins Bill and Brady Kincaid.
• Richard Dreyfuss as Pug Rothbaum, a business partner of Brady's.
• Susan Sarandon as Daisy Kincaid, Bill and Brady's mother.
• Keri Russell as Janet, a friend of Brady's and Bill's new romantic interest.
• Tim Blake Nelson as Rick Bolger, Brady's best friend.
• Melanie Lynskey as Colleen, Brady's pregnant girlfriend.
• Steve Earle as Buddy Fuller, a rival drug dealer of Brady's.
• Lucy DeVito as Anne, a student in love with Bill.
• Lee Wilkof as Nathan Levy, Bill's prospective boss at a new university.
• Ken Cheeseman as Jimmy Fuller, a rival drug dealer of Brady's.
• Maggie Siff as Rabbi Renannah Zimmerman
• Josh Pais as Ken Feinman
• Ty Burrell as Professor Sorenson
• Pruitt Taylor Vince as Big Joe Sharpe

Credited songs

Song title	Performer	Written by
"Stand Up"	Doug Bossi	Doug Bossi
"Illegal Smile"	John Prine	John Prine
"My Wildest Dreams Grow Wilder Every Day"	The Flatlanders	Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Dan Yates
"Faithful and True"	Richard Myhill	Richard Myhill
"Fat Man In The Bathtub"	Little Feat	Lowell George
"Rex's Blues"	Townes Van Zandt	Townes Van Zandt
"Sailin' Shoes"	Little Feat	Lowell George
"Sweet Revenge"	John Prine	John Prine
"I Shall Be Released"	The Band	Bob Dylan
"Lonely Are The Free"	Steve Earle	Steve Earle
"Boys From Oklahoma"	Cross Canadian Ragweed	Gene Collier

Release

The film premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Film critic Roger Ebert has since stated that he considered it his favorite of the festival. DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film were released on October 12, 2010, and an extended edition is sold exclusively on Blu-ray with an additional 46 minutes of content.^{[citation needed]}

Critical reception

Leaves of Grass received mixed-to-positive reviews from film critics, with unanimous praise given to Norton's dual performance. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 63% of 35 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 5.6/10, and the critical consensus being that "Edward Norton delivers one of his finest performances in Leaves of Grass, but he's overpowered by the movie's many jarring tonal shifts." The film received more negative reviews from audiences, receiving a 49% approval rating. Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 58 (out of 100) based on 10 reviews from mainstream critics, considered to be "mixed or average reviews".

Roger Ebert gave the film a perfect four out of four stars, and stated that "Tim Blake Nelson's "Leaves of Grass" is some kind of sweet, wacky masterpiece. It takes all sorts of risks, including a dual role with Edward Norton playing twin brothers, and it pulls them off." He closed his review with "Here's a quote for the video box: "One of the year's best!" No, Tim Blake Nelson...thank you." Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times also gave a positive review, particularly praising that "Edward Norton turns in not just one but two terrific performances in "Leaves of Grass," an offbeat thriller that is deepened — rather than derailed — by its tricky shift from darkly funny to just plain dark." He particularly praised Norton, Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, and Josh Pais for their performances. Neil Genzlinger of New York Times gave it an "NYT Critics' Pick", and particular praised the actors, saying "Mr. Norton is a pleasure to watch, and so is everyone else." He also approved of how the "film keeps you deliciously off-balance: it’s funny and unnerving at the same time." Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly stated that "the movie bubbles with intellectual curiosity and narrative ambition. And for that I dig it, even if Leaves of Grass has the habit of swerving and sometimes lurching from tone to tone." She praised the acting of Norton and Keri Russell. On an A to F scale, she gave the film a B+.

However, the film was not without its detractors. Dennis Harvey of Variety stated that "Nelson's script isn't blackly comic or deep enough to successfully accommodate the introduction of jarring violence," and criticized the subplot of Pais' character, Dreyfuss' performance, and the "perfunctory" romance between Norton and Russell. He did, however, strongly praise Norton's acting, stating that his dual-role "is very much the main attraction, and reward, of 'Leaves of Grass.'", and also praised Nelson's acting, stating that "Nelson himself provides the most valuable support in the colorful if variable cast." Rex Reed of New York Observer was extremely critical, particularly of Nelson, saying "It’s just another oblique backfire from Tim Blake Nelson, whose work as a writer-director in general wallows in a bog of mediocrity" and that "Nelson, a cornball actor at best, is over the top as a larcenous Pa Kettle of a redneck sidekick." He finished his review stating that "The mirror-has-two-faces-idea is nothing new. From Bette Davis in Dead Ringer to Sam Rockwell in Moon, dozens of seasoned actors have lit each other’s cigarettes while the audience thinks it’s seeing double, and they’ve done it in much better pictures than this one. In Leaves of Grass, it seems irrelevant and recycled—essentially nothing more than a gimmick that wears out fast." He gave the film two "eyeballs" out of four.

References

• Moviefone (September 14, 2009) Tim Blake Nelson Returns Home in 'Leaves of Grass'

External links

• Official website
• Leaves of Grass at the Internet Movie Database
• Leaves of Grass at Rotten Tomatoes