This beautiful Greek revival of a comedy vs. tragedy burned so heavily it was intoxicating.
When writing the film Leaves of Grass, director Tim Blake Nelson could only imagine one actor being such a dynamic presence while portraying a duo of caricatures actually written for the seasoned embodiment that is Edward Norton. The two-time Academy Award nominee (for Primal Fear and American History X) inhabits the role of the brothers Kincaid. Norton, with poignancy and flexibility, seemingly melted into each character. When first gracing the screen as Bill, the audience sees an accomplished man professing some memorable words to his adoring pupils. His entire goal in life is to achieve and succeed. Raised in a small town in Oklahoma all he needed was to fuel his escape for a better life, until he is tricked many years later into returning for the funeral of his identical twin brother. Even though twins do very much resemble each other physically, life can greatly alter their characters.
As Brady Kincaid, Edward Norton slips into a country marijuana hustler with all the brains and drive to inherit Microsoft. Never leaving the little southern town of Little Dixie, Brady has found himself in a pickle. In and out of trouble with the law, a pregnant wife and a half-delusional mother (Susan Sarandon) were all weights he could not bear until he manifested his most diabolical scheme ever.
The work that went into the costumes that separated Edward Norton’s roles either enhanced his performance or made the comedy much better. You have a silly mullet-haired Brady Kincaid that accurately displays the stereotypical lingo and culture of the South, and then you have his more dapper, clean-cut scholarly brother Bill. Each in his own odd way articulates himself as the sharpest tool in the shed. Being from the South personally, I found familiarity with the setting and the musical score was very precise in this film. Tim Blake Nelson immerses us in this location.
In addition to starring as an intricate character in this film (Bolger), Tim Blake Nelson somehow manages to incorporate love of thought, with Janet (Kerri Russell) as Bill Kincaid’s love interest. He also brings some sharp twists to the story with Pug Rothbaum, a beloved Jewish man to the community who is behind closed doors a poison to humanity (played by Academy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee for Mr. Holland’s Opus, Richard Dreyfuss).
The director stated: “In addition to having this game of twins, Leaves of Grass is peppered with classical, literary and philosophical references. Scattered throughout are allusion not just to Whitman in the title, but to the works of Shakespeare, Catullus, Plautus, Sophocles, Sappho, and many others. We quote a number of philosophers including Epicurus, Aristotle and Socrates. We want people to consider these thinkers vital with ideas that are directly applicable to our daily lives. As Bill says in the films first scene, ‘these people were alive, they thought these things, breathe them into life.’ With any luck, we have done that.”
Indeed he has.
by M.M.
Tim Blake Nelson has done the nearly impossible in writing, directing, and acting in a sparkling movie of pot, poetry, philosophy, and the power of place and love, Leaves of Grass. It is difficult enough to do one well, two perhaps, but rarely, all three hardly ever. A gem, dense, polished, glittering, and warm, it makes you want to look at a different facet time and again.