Leaves of Grass

In a dual role, Edward Norton stars as dissimilar twins Bill and Brady Kincaid in Tim Blake Nelson's edgy dramedy Leaves of Grass. While Bill escaped the siblings' redneck Oklahoma hometown to become a celebrated professor of classics at Brown University, Brady remained in the Little Dixie region as a hayseed master of pot production, with an incredibly modern greenhouse funded by Pug Rothbaum (Richard Dreyfuss), the Tulsa-based drug kingpin who purchases his weed. Unfortunately, Pug is pressuring Brady to repay his loans, so figuring that dealing with his boss might require an alibi, Brady lures Bill back home to impersonate him while he's off in the big city. Farcical confusion naturally ensues, along with violence—some of it awfully bloody—as well as tender romance and hesitant familial bonding. The script is replete with elevated literary and philosophical references, which is fairly unusual in a drug comedy, but it also boasts a strand of ribald, earthy humor, along with sporadic bursts of sudden mayhem. Nelson doesn't juggle these disparate elements with much finesse, as the film lurches rather clumsily from laidback comedy to black farce to heavy drama. But Norton is a joy to watch, clearly reveling in portraying two disparate characters, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Recommended, overall. (F. Swietek)