Tim Blake Nelson and Leaves of Grass

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Tim Blake Nelson, known for star roles in the Coen Brothers’ O Brother Where Art Thou and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs among many film and TV performances, has proven himself a gifted, ambitious writer-director whose engrossing films (The Grey Zone, O, Eye of God) tackle big ideas. LEAVES OF GRASS is built around an astonishing double-performance by Edward Norton as a Brown University philosophy professor who has been called back to his Oklahoma hometown because his twin brother is supposedly dead. Roger Ebert called LEAVES OF GRASS “some kind of sweet, wacky masterpiece. It takes all sorts of risks, including a dual role with Edward Norton playing twin brothers, and it pulls them off. It is certainly the most intelligent, philosophical and poetic film I can imagine that involves five murders in a marijuana-dealing community.”

Screening as part of the series Actors Direct, hosted by David Schwartz.


  • Country USA
  • Year 2009
  • Running Time 105 minutes
  • Distributor Millennium Entertainment
  • Director Tim Blake Nelson
  • Writer Tim Blake Nelson
  • Editor Michelle Botticelli
  • Cinematographer Roberto Schaefer
  • Cast Edward Norton, Keri Russell, Henry Max Nelson, Susan Sarandon, Tim Blake Nelson
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.