Leaves of Grass (2009) Edward Norton, Lucy DeVito, Kent Jude Bernard, Amelia Campbell Movie Review

Leaves of Grass (2009)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Edward Norton in Leaves of Grass (2009)

Leave in the Grass

Bill Kincaid (Edward Norton) has managed to escape his back water roots and made a career for himself in academia. His twin brother Brady (Edward Norton) has stayed where they grew up and become an expert in the illegal business of growing marijuana. When Brady comes up with an idea to take down a local drug lord he needs the help of his twin and so lures him home under the pretence that he has been killed by a crossbow.

If someone had told me that Tim Blake Nelson's "Leaves of Grass" was like a Coen brother comedy I would have had to give a long thought about whether to watch it because I often struggle with the Coen humour. As it turns out I also struggle with Tim Blake Nelson's take on comedy as "Leaves of Grass" despite its impressive cast became a monotonous way to spend 105 minutes.

Edward Norton in Leaves of Grass (2009)

It started off well enough as not only do you have Bill dealing with an infatuated student, wonderfully played by Lucy DeVito but we also have the humour of Edward Norton playing the back water Brady. But once the novelty wears off of Edward Norton playing very different twins what you have is a storyline which thinks it is being amusing and clever with various levels but struggles to hook you in with all these threads which are unfolding in front of you.

The saving grace when it comes to "Leaves of Grass" is that Edward Norton saves the movie; his dual performance brings enough entertainment to keep you watching even when you have given up on it entertaining. And surrounding Norton is a particularly decent cast all of whom do a good job of making their characters amusing but the end result cannot be saved by these performances.

What this all boils down to is that if you are a fan of the Coen brand of random comedy than you will probably find "Leaves of Grass" entertaining. But if you prefer your comedy more straight down the middle and easy to follow then there is just as much chance of finding this bordering on the insufferable.


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