Leaves of Grass (2009)

We are noticing a trent with indie flicks, and it continues with the one we watched tonight.  2009's Leaves of Grass features Edward Norton in a double roll, Keri Russell and Tim Blake Nelson as the main characters.  The trend I speak of, if you will refer back to indie films such as Feed the Fish and The Amateurs, is that a lot indie films are better on many levels than most main stream films.

Everything in this film functions on at least 2 levels at the same time.  The most obvious is the dual roll of Norton in the identical twins Bill and Brady.  The title, Leaves of Grass, refers not only to the pot grown in the film but also the tie to poetry with Keri Russell's character.  Many others jump out while watching and are valuable additions to the film.

Foreshadowing was one of my favorite features of this film.  After watching, and only after unlike a lot of hollywood films, you finally catch everything that was foreshadowed in the movie.  It is done with such precision and to such a degree that it is nearly impossible to predict certain events will come back later in the film.  This phenomenon happens more than once in fact, making it all the more enjoyable at the end.

Script was absolutely insane!  Tim Blake Nelson, who acted wrote and directed the film, did an outstanding job.  This film is deeper and more profound that most mainstream movies I can think of.  You may be used to seeing Tim in stoner and stupid rolls as I was, which makes the fact that he was able to invent and direct this amazing product all the more surprising.  Norton's characters are geniuses, and their conversations well reflect it.  The plot was intricate, well laid out, rock solid and fun to watch giving us a result that I would have never guessed Tim was capable of (but very glad he did it!).

Let's just keep this going in list format tonight and hit acting.  Where the hell did Norton's southern stoner character come from?  That was absolutely astonishing!  Brady has to be my favorite Norton character of all time.  As I touched on above, Nelson surprised me with his apparently hidden genius in script and directing, and his acting was no different.  If he really is that smart he does one hell of a job acting stupid in all the films he is in.

This is a hard review to do without taking much about what happened in the film.  I really don't want to go into much detail because this is a film I truly believe everyone should watch.  I am continuing my indie film trend with another 5 star rating.  Leaves of Grass is available at the moment as view instant on Netflix, so get your ass over there and add it to your queue.  Ciao for now and see you for the next review!