"Leaves of Grass" with Edward Norton and Tim Blake Nelson (2010)

Tim Blake Nelson wrote, directed and stars in this hilarious comic/drama in which he plays Bolger, a friend to Brady Kincaid, played by Edward Norton; who also plays his own twin brother Bill Kincaid. Brady is a local marijuana grower in Oklahoma, while his brother Bill has left home and become a well-known Ivy League Professor of Philosophy, who is clearly headed for bigger things.

When a local drug lord, played by Richard Dreyuss, tries to make Brady start dealing hard drugs, Brady rebels and hatches a scheme with his best friend Bolger to take the drug lord down. Unknown to brother Bill is that he is to be a major player in this scheme. Brady has his brother notified that he has passed away, and when Bill returns for the funeral he discovers that he is being used.

Bill meets a woman named Janet, played by Keri Russell, and he falls for her. Meantime, the boys mother Daisy Kincaid, played by Susan Sarandon, has place herself in an old age home, where Brady delivers fresh pot to her. The town Sheriff is looking to bust Brady but can’t get a handle on anything incriminating to work with.

Brady leaves town for a day or so to conduct some “business” with the local drug lord. He has cut his hair and shaved so that he looks exactly like his brother Bill, who is now the target of the local sheriff, as well as some rival drug dealers who want Brady’s growing operation.

Somehow it all comes together in a most unexpected way, when Philosophy takes a back seat to brotherly love and this comedy becomes a full blown drama with a surprise ending. This film is a triumph for Tim Blake Nelson for writing and direction. Edward Norton shines in his dual role playing his own brother in this highly entertaining and thoughtful film.  An outstanding soundtrack; covering everything from Little Feat to Townes van Zandt and Steve Earle; makes this a sure fired winner.

These are the artists and songs featured in the film;

“Stand Up” by Doug Bossi

“Illegal Smile” by John Prine

“My Wildest Dreams Go Wilder Every Day” by The Flatlanders

“Faithful and True” by Richard Myhill

“Fat Man in the Bathtub” by Little Feat

“Rex's Blues” by Townes van Zandt

“Sailin' Shoes” by Little Feat

“Sweet Revenge” by John Prine

“Shall be Released” by The Band

“Lonely are the Free” by Steve Earle

“Boys from Oklahoma” by Cross Canadian Ragweed

"Atlantic City" with Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon

This is the 1981 masterpiece from Director Louis Malle. The flavor of the opening scenes, in which the old hotels are being demolished to make way for the new corporate ones, can be found in "Casino", the blockbuster hit film by Martin Scorsese which was made over a decade later.

This film is largely about people and their dreams. Burt Lancaster plays Lou, an aging man who has been a low level numbers runner in Atlantic City for decades. He has been everyone's errand boy, but never made that one big score for himself. He wants to be like his old boss, the man on top. That's his dream.

Then there is the dream of Grace, the long suffering ex gun moll, and widow of Lou's old boss. She still pays Lou to "protect" her. She first came to Atlantic City in the 1940's for a Betty Grable look-a-like contest and never went home. She dreams of a man like the one she had, one she does not have to pay to protect her, someone she can be proud to walk down the board walk with again, a Princess in her own mind.

Susan Sarandon is Sally, a divorced young woman who waits on patrons at an oyster bar in the casino, but is also going to school to learn how to be a dealer. Her dream is to go to France and work in the casinos of Monte Carlo. She just doesn't have the money.

When Sally's ex shows up with his pregnant girlfriend and a stash that doesn't belong to him, things change. And that's all I will tell you about this remarkable film, which was about 15 years ahead of it's time, both in it's direction by Mr. Malle and the subject matter itself. Set against the backdrop of Atlantic City during the late 1970's, when the town was turning from a family resort to a mob run gambling town, lends tension and a seedy quality to the film, which was largely shot on location.

As for the acting, all I can say is that Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon are both outstanding as people who get caught on the edge of life. Mr. Lancaster is especially great in this breakout role as a sensitive man with the desire to rise up and be more, both for himself, and those around him. This is a sharp, well made film.

Movie Review: In the Valley of Elah with Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon

This movie will leave you thinking about the pre-conceived notions which divide us all.

Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon play the parents of a young man who has just returned from Iraq but is nowhere to be found. His father (played by Jones) makes the trip to his son's base to find out what has happened to his son. As an ex military man he was largely responsible for his son enlisting and going off to war.

When he arrives at the base no one seems willing to go the extra step it will take to find his son. The military says it's a Police matter and the Police say it's a military affair. The only Detective that seems willing to take an interest in the case is played by Charlize Theron. At first skeptical, she is gradually drawn into the case, largely because she is frustrated by the treatment of her fellow, all male Detective Squad.

Following the path of his son the father begins to see the underbelly of the War on Terror. Quick sex, strip clubs and drugs offer the father a rare glimpse behind the New Militarism that has followed in the wake of 9/11. And he begins to realize how different that world is from the one he remembers.

When the sons' cell phone is downloaded and the images from the camera are made clear the suspicion arises that the son may have been involved in drug smuggling. The images of an argument between the son and an Hispanic platoon member lead Jones and Theron to believe that the boy was killed by a Mexican Cartel that has employed soldiers to smuggle Heroin back home. When the body is found hacked up and burned in a field near the base it appears that all loose ends have been tied up. Or have they?

What is in the unopened package that has arrived at the boys home and addressed in his own handwriting?

The lessons learned in this film are timeless. We all want the answers to our questions. Sometimes the answers are not what you expect. And sometimes the answers can really hurt.