Review of Leaves of Grass (2009) by John O — 10 Dec 2010
Character actor Tim Blake Nelson takes a run at the director's chair and (mostly) scores. He picked the increasingly pretentious and stuffy Edward Norton (he of AMERICAN HISTORY X and DOWN IN THE VALLEY fame) to play identical twins. One's a classics professor at an elite East Coast college and the other is a Oklahoma scallywag who has taken marijuana growing and selling to the next level.
The scallywag gets into trouble with another drug dealer, Richard Dreyfuss in a truly inventive turn, and he enlists the help of his estranged twin to fox his way out of an ugly down home mess.
There's cameos with Keri Russell (she of the eternally curly locks) and legendary folk rock musician Steve Earle.
Overall Nelson does a fine job, he should get an award for the simple fact he made an indy film from start to finish. But I have to take exception with Norton's portrayal of the scallywag when his accent drifts from Southern to Forest Gump. I've known a few Southerners and while some of them have pronounced accents, some mysteriously don't, and none of them sound like retards.
This review of Leaves of Grass (2009) was written by John O on 10 Dec 2010.
Leaves of Grass has generally received mixed reviews.
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