Review of Leaves of Grass (2009) by Cory W — 25 Oct 2010
"Leaves of Grass" could have been something fantastic. It has a promising scenario, a great cast, and some intriguing direction by Tim Blake Nelson. Instead, the film turned into a genre-bending dark comedy/crime thriller/philosophical drama.
What could have been a Coen brother's take on "Pineapple Express" turned into a muddled mess. The film stars Edward Norton (still one of the best character actors in Hollywood) as a pair of twins, one a successful scholar poised for a job at Harvard, the other a weed-dealing country bumpkin.
The two cross paths when Norton's country brother needs some assistance when a local drug kingpin comes looking for borrowed money. Then the story starts to go down 500 different sub-plots and starts to change tones, and it's easy to get lost in the commotion.
On the positive side, Norton is fantastic here. He pulls off the oft-dangerous task of portraying two different characters. The rest of the cast does their jobs well. Nelson's first-time out as a director proves to be effective when the film does it's best-as a fun, dark comedy.
It's really sad to see the story get pulled apart by the different "plot twists" and pointless plot diversions. It really got annoying towards the end on the way they capped off the story.
I really did want to like this movie, and for parts I really did, but in the end, "Leaves of Grass" turns out being a film with identity crisis. If the movie had decided what it was and stuck with it, I'm sure it would have been something worthwhile.
Overall, "Leaves of Grass" features a fantastic performance by Edward Norton, but the crowded narrative and shifts in tone bogged the flow down.
This review of Leaves of Grass (2009) was written by Cory W on 25 Oct 2010.
Leaves of Grass has generally received mixed reviews.
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