Apple has debuted the trailer for Tim Blake Nelson‘s Leaves of Grass. Many of you might recognize Nelson‘s name from films such as The Good Girl, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Minority Report, and Syriana. He is an established actor in the industry, and with Leaves of Grass, not only does he have a part in the film, but he has tackled the writer/director position.
For me, the main attraction to this film is easily the dual role performed by lead actor Edward Norton. He’s had so many great characters to date, and this one seems juicy enough to earn a place among some of his best work. The film has received pretty decent reviews since it debuted at TIFF last year, including an 8/10 from our very own Jordan Raup. Raup found the film to be “a successful tale of sibling rivalry” with elements both “dark” and “hilarious.”
Another article that caught my eye was delivered from none other than Roger Ebert. Ebert said that Leaves of Grass “was my last film of the festival…and it turns out to have been my favorite one.” Ebert goes on to call the film “some kind of sweet, wacky masterpiece.”
Plot: When Ivy League classics professor Bill Kincaid receives news of the murder of his estranged identical twin brother, Brady (both played by two-time Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton), in a pot deal gone bad, he leaves the world of Northeastern academia to travel back to his home state of Oklahoma. Upon arrival, he finds that reports of his brother’s death are greatly exaggerated, and he’s soon caught up in the dangerous and unpredictable world of drug commerce in the backwaters of the Southwest. In the process, he reconnects with his eccentric mother (Academy Award® winner Susan Sarandon), meets a wise and educated young woman who has bypassed academia in favor of the gentler rhythms of life (Keri Russell), and unwittingly helps his troubled brother settle a score with a pernicious drug lord (Academy Award® winner Richard Dreyfuss) who uses Tulsa, Oklahoma’s small Jewish community for cover. Leaves of Grass follows a twisting narrative path merging crime drama, drug comedy, classical philosophy and sudden violence in pursuit of answering one of humanity’s oldest questions: What does it truly mean to live a happy and constructive life?
Well, there you have it. Are you planning to see Leaves of Grass once April rolls around? Those words from both Ebert and Raup have to ignite some sort of excitement, right?