Leaves of Grass

What a pleasant surprise Leaves of Grass turned out to be. I was imagining some kind of stoner comedy, but it turns out to be smart combination of a family drama and a thriller that may require some college to fully grasp it.

Edward Norton plays two parts--twin brothers. One is a professor of philosophy, and the opening has him lecturing on Socrates and his desire to control his life so there are no distractions. That, of course, is a tip-off that he will end up in a messy situation. Sure enough, his twin, who lives back in Oklahoma and has a thriving marijuana trade, connives to bring his brother home to use him as an alibi.

Once I got used to the gimmick of having Norton play two roles (and the special effects when he is on screen with himself are seamless) I really warmed to the film, especially when the plot takes twists that I had no idea were coming. Tim Blake Nelson, who also stars as the criminal Norton's loyal sidekick, directed and wrote the script, and it's the latter that really shines. It's a script I wish I had written.

The cast has a few other big names, with Susan Sarandon as Norton's mother and Richard Dreyfuss, channeling Robert Duvall, as a Jewish drug kingpin. I also very much appreciated the presence of Keri Russell as the professor Norton's love interest. She's mighty nice to look at, but I will admit her character, a high school teacher of English who can also catch catfish with her bare hands, is idealized and straight out of male fantasy. Any woman who can recite Walt Whitman while gutting a catfish probably exists only in the imagination.